To Mend the Severed Bonds
by IIVII
Summary: He made a promise; the promise of a lifetime. How was he supposed to know; how was anyone supposed to know that the price to be paid would actually be a life. At the Valley of the End, he's faced with a decision that will change his life forever. The question is... What awaits him in the path he chooses? M for violence and language
1. Prologue

Prologue: A Broken Brotherhood

Memories flashed before his eyes; Team 7, Ero-sensei, Granny Tsunade, and all of his other friends; his thoughts were racing and rifling through those memories. He could feel his heart in his throat. He could _die._ The possibility wasn't out of the question, because the boy who was rushing towards him with a blade of lightning in his hand, was no longer his brother; no longer his friend.

"**Chidori!"**

He didn't feel anger. He didn't feel pity. He felt regret; regret that he wasn't able to save his best friend. Regret that he'd have to break the promise he made to the pink haired girl he left in the village; he would either bring his friend back on the verge of death, or not come back with him at all. Regret that he hadn't earned the respect of the people around him and regret that he couldn't fulfill his dream. For once in his life, the boy felt his determination waver and fade. The thought popped into his head, just for a fraction of a second, but nonetheless, he had thought it.

"_I'll probably die."_

He shut his eyes…

"**Rasengan!"**

Their forces clashed in a bright explosion. The once clear river now ran red.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

Well here's another story! I hope you guys take the time reading it and telling me what YOU think should come next, because i appreciate you reading this and I care about your opinions. Not really sure where to go pairing-wise, so just tell me what you guys would like to see! Although, it is a bit too early for that.


	2. Chapter 1: Rippling Aftermath

Chapter 1: Rippling Aftermath

"_The sky is clearing"_

Naruto thought to himself. He hadn't the slightest clue what would happen now. It seemed that the worst part was over. He _had_ fought with his best friend. He _had_ clashed with him. The outcome of the fight, though, was still very much debatable. Naruto smiled at the sky; he'd like to think he won. His Rasengan managed to find its home on Sasuke's sternum; effectively shattering the boy's chest plate and planting him on the cliffside. But he didn't walk away without a scratch. The Jinchuuriki was lying on the riverside, in a pool of his own blood; the Chidori had managed to leave a deep, gaping wound on his torso. He was panting, the adrenaline had yet to recede from his system so the pain wasn't all that bad, but that didn't change the fact that he could barely breathe due to fatigue and blood loss.

"Damn… T-The teme got me pretty good…"

He could feel the power fading from him. He was feeling light-headed as he coughed up even more blood. In a way, he had expected this to happen. He wasn't really bothered by the thought of death. What bothered him were the dreams that he would have to give up. His sight was starting to blur and fade. He was about to slip…

…Until he heard that all too familiar maniacal laugh. He managed to open his eyes once more, only to see Orochimaru carrying the unconscious body of the Uchiha.

"You really are pathetic, Kyuubi brat. I have to admit though; I'm impressed that you're still alive. But I don't think that would be the case for very long. And now you're going to die not as a hero, but as the failure that you were meant to be; as the monstrosity that your own village wrote you off to be. Ultimately, you have still failed to save your precious little friend. Tell me, brat. Who would mourn for you? Who would miss you? You're nothing but a pathetic waste of space, and so is that Demon inside of you. You can't even beat an Uchiha. In fact, you should be proud that you were killed by the future host of the Legendary Orochimaru. Face it, brat. No one would remember a failure like you."

The Snake Sannin let out another laugh. He felt like he was on top of the world; like he was invincible. As if nothing in the world could take him on and live to tell the tale.

"**I'll cut him down a peg."**

Naruto's eyes shot open with surprise. He could feel the power surging through every inch of his body; it was flowing through his veins. They Kyuubi was taking over…

"…_No!"_

The Jinchuuriki fought back. He struggled for control. It felt like a tug-of-war was ensuing within him. He let out a fierce battle cry as he got on his feet and glared intensely at the treacherous snake.

"**I-Impossible…"**

The Kyuubi couldn't believe it. The fox demon snapped when Orochimaru was giving his speech. He couldn't bear to listen to a weak bag of bones talk down to him and his host; as if the little snake could easily crush the both of them had he wanted to. He pumped about a third of his chakra into Naruto's coils; just enough to initiate the four-tail mode. But to his surprise; the boy would have none of it. His malicious chakra was reined and controlled by the boy in an instant. He shut his eyes; finding it hard to believe that the boy had so much determination and willpower. When they shot open; he was in the soul room, with the boy standing directly in front of him.

"_Kyuubi… I know what you were trying to do, and I appreciate it. I really do. But this is my fight. I'll finish this with my own two hands. I don't think I can win by myself, though. So I'll need your help. I'll be borrowing some of this chakra that you pumped into my system. Don't worry though; I'll use it to smash that snake bastard's face. You can count on it!"_

The boy gave him a wide grin and a thumbs-up, before aptly turning away.

"_Oh and… thank you. If someone talked down to you; I hate to admit it, but I'd probably defend you too. Because I know they're wrong about you; I see that now. You aren't the monster that they say you are. Maybe beneath that thick layer of hatred, there's something good. Beneath it all, maybe I can find the fox I consider a friend."_

The Jinchuuriki vanished from the demon's sight. The brat was annoying. He was naïve. He was the son of the man who sealed him. He was an idiot to boot. But he had to give it up to the kid. He was brash and bold. He had no trouble acting by his own sense of right and wrong. He had something that the demon hadn't seen in quite a while. The kid had heart. And to top it all off, he thought of the fox in a way that no one had ever dared to before. His previous hosts had once told him that they would keep him from bringing harm to the world. Some had said that they would keep the world from hurting _him._ The Kyuubi thought he had heard it all; but the blonde twerp had referred to him as something he had never even heard of.

"**A… F-Friend…?"**

A look of confusion donned over the Kyuubi's face. Before he knew it, it was soon replaced by a genuine and sincere smile. Someone had actually thought of him as a friend. It had been so long since he was called that; not since that man…

As soon as the Kyuubi noticed it though, the smile disappeared and he let out a frazzled snarl.

"…**Dumb Fleshbag."**

* * *

Naruto's body was quivering. He could feel the power in his body, flowing steadily but at the same time, uncontrollably. He shot a murderous glare towards the Snake Sannin, focusing all of his killing intent and projecting it into the still air. Orochimaru was nearly paralyzed when he caught the boy's gaze. He stared down the blonde's eyes as they slowly turned from the bright blue hue they usually had into a shade much more befitting of the crimson blood lust that seemed to emanate from him. The chakra that was pouring out was so intense that Orochimaru had taken slow and cautious steps backwards. The snake had felt fear. He knew he was in no condition to fight; if he did, the Kyuubi brat would surely rip him to shreds. He watched as the boy's figure grew sharper; edgier. The fourth tail had emerged. He stood there, staring down Death itself; the crimson skinned Demon he regarded as Death. The beast let out a fierce battle cry that tore through the air. The approaching Sound ninjas had heard it. The fear that it had injected into them made them all stop dead in their tracks for about four seconds before they continued their pursuit. Kakashi and his dogs heard it as well. He stiffened mid-air for about a fraction of a second. He knew that that could only mean one thing. The fox had killed Sasuke and was about to go on a rampage. Despite the fear that lingered in the corners of his mind, he managed to pick up his pace; hoping to be able to save _at least_ one of his students.

Naruto's body grew still. The crimson began to recede, revealing the horrible shape his body was in. His fangs were disappearing and it seemed that the malevolent aura had begun to shrink. Orochimaru allowed a nervous smile to pass on his face. He let out an unsure laugh.

"W-Well… It seems you're all bark and no bite, Kyuubi brat…!"

His insult had met the most unexpected retort.

"I'll kill you."

Orochimaru arched an eyebrow at the boy. The suddenness of the words had caught him of guard, but then, he noticed something. The malevolent cloak of the demon fox had ceased in its hostile take-over of the boy's body. Instead, it seemed to mold around him; fixing itself on the skin of the boy, like an armor. It seemed as if Naruto Uzumaki was ablaze; caught inside an aura of crimson and orange flames. He shuddered at the sight of it all; the fourth tail was still there.

"N-No… It can't be…!" Orochimaru yelled in outrage. It didn't make any sense for the boy to spontaneously achieve full control of the Kyuubi's chakra.

"How can a brat like you manage to control the Kyuubi's chakra?"

"The truth is…" Naruto grinned as he was saying this. "I haven't. So I _might_ go a bit overboard with this next move. Now…"

The Jinchuuriki cracked his knuckles as he prepared to lunge at the Snake.

"Put my friend down, so I can beat you to a bloody pulp!"

With that, Naruto charged up as much chakra as he could into his right palm. A bright vermillion sphere of chakra formed in the boy's hand as he prepared to attack. Orochimaru felt his fear rock his knees. He was having a hard time just standing up. _He_ could die. He had been the only one to notice the tint of black swirling within the vortex of the chakra ball. Naruto grabbed his right wrist and continued to pump more of his chakra into the sphere. The air around him began to whip around wildly; the intensity of his chakra was causing the wind to react violently and it was also influencing the flow of the river. Without Naruto noticing it, the wind had formed around the ball of chakra, and infused its natural properties onto it. He broke into a sprint towards the Sannin who just stood there marveling in absolute awe and pure fear at the sight.

Orochimaru panicked; he would either have to dodge the attack or block it. Either way, he would not escape unharmed. He made up his mind to dodge it but when he tried to jump out of the way, his body refused to follow the command.

"_What the hell…?! Why can't I move?"_

He took another look at the boy who was rushing towards him with reckless abandon. It was then, that he began to laugh silently to himself.

"_So... This is what fear feels like, eh…"_

The unconscious Uchiha fell to the ground. The Snake Sannin raised both his hands and crossed them, in an attempt to block the attack; an effort that would prove futile…

"**Rasengan!"**

The ball of chakra made contact with its target; exploding upon impact and letting the wind trapped inside its vortex run rampant on the body of Orochimaru. The Legendary Sannin was sent flying into the dense forest, leaving only a trail of blood as he was forced out of the scene. The Uzumaki boy took a seat beside his unconscious friend. He stared at the Uchiha who, not more than fifteen minutes ago, had attempted and probably succeeded in killing him.

"_He looks so peaceful when he sleeps. Damn teme… if only you hadn't given in to Orochimaru… Now what do I do… I'm probably going to die right now. All those promises… I wonder how they'd remember me in Konoha… nah; they probably won't remember me after all. Kakashi-sensei's probably on his way here now; hope he won't be late again. Hell, at least I'll be able to make Sakura happy when Kakashi-sensei takes Sasuke back home. I bet she wouldn't even ask about me… Orochimaru was right. All I can do now is to just die quietly; after all… nobody would miss me…"_

His whole body tensed as he thought about the Snake's words; admitting it hurt like hell, but at that point there really wasn't much else he could do. The boy was way past hope; it wouldn't save him now. He had lost a tremendous amount of blood, and he was still losing more. There was nothing left for him to do. He would just wait for Death to take him…

"…**Or you could run."**

Naruto's eyes shot open, as he realized he was back inside the soul room.

"_W-What…?"_

"**You heard me, Kit. You could run."**

Naruto let out a sigh and smiled at the Demon; much to the Kyuubi's surprise.

"_And what good would that do, fur ball?"_

"**Look!"** The Kyuubi snapped. **"Don't buy into the bullshit of the little reptile. If you hadn't noticed, we just sent him to the moon! Now is not the time to give up. You have people who are precious to you, don't you mortal? The only thing that pale-skinned freak was right about is that, right now, you are weak. You won't be able to protect them if you continue existing with your pathetic strength."**

Naruto arched his eyebrow at the Demon; obviously annoyed that he was being talked down to.

"_Watch what you're saying fur ball!"_

"**Or what? You're going to break the seal and fight me? Be my guest."**

The Jinchuuriki was annoyed; the prospect of fighting the Kyuubi seemed very appealing at the moment, but he knew he had to calm down and listen if he wanted to get along with the fox demon. After all, he _was _trying to pay Naruto a compliment. He let out another humored sigh.

"_So what do you want me to do? You want me to run? Since I can't protect them; since I'm too weak, you want me to just run away from it all? Is that your plan?"_

"…**Well, yes."**

Naruto couldn't repress the rage anymore.

"_And how is that supposed to make me strong?!"_

"**IT ISN'T!"**

The Kyuubi's outburst had sent the Jinchuuriki flying across the room only to land on the water face first. He got up, and looked at the Kyuubi like he was ready to kill.

"**Just listen, you brainless bag of bones! It isn't****running that will make you stronger! Think about it! If you ran, who would miss you? Huh? Who would cry for you, that Sakura brat? Heh, don't make me laugh. She'd run right past you and into the arms of the Uchiha, just like before. They'll all do that. Get real Kit; they care about him more than they do about you. If they had to choose, they'd pick the boy who betrayed their village over you, any day of the week. The snake was right about that as well! In fact, I'd bet they'd be glad to have gotten rid of the monster that destroyed their village!"**

The rage suddenly disappeared from Naruto's countenance. It had been replaced; replaced by a somber frown and a thin sheet of pain that managed to make its way on to the tearing eyes of the Uzumaki boy. The Kyuubi took a closer look at the boy, and when he noticed his expression, he knew that he had struck the boy's soft spot. He had thrown a hit and it landed below the belt. He opened his mouth to speak, but the boy cut him off.

"_Look, you don't need to say anymore, okay? I get it. No one gives a shit about me. They all hate me, deep down. They'll never respect me, even if I did become the Hokage. But you're wrong in saying that you're a monster; because you aren't. I know what it feels like to not have anybody who understands you, Kyuubi. It hurts. They all look at you as if you were something, not someone. Believe it or not, I understand your pain. So don't take it out on me! Because unlike everybody else, I think I understand you. And you aren't a monster. You aren't as bad as they say…"_

The words sounded familiar. For a moment there, it was as if he had been listening to the Rikudo sage; as if it was _that_ man who was speaking to him. There was a tear in his eye; he hadn't heard those words in such a long time. No one in this world ever saw him the way this boy did. He was grateful. He shrugged of the sentiments that were surging up from his chest and managed to create a totally indifferent grunt.

"**Look, Kit. You got something I haven't seen in a while, at least not in you puny humans. You got heart, I'll give you that much. You have people you want to protect, and you'd do anything to protect them. What I'm saying is, with the strength you have right now, you won't be able to protect them all. So you need to run; far, far away. Get stronger, so that when you come back, you **_**will**_** be able to protect them all."**

"_But… I can't do it on my own… I need someone like the Ero-senin…"_

"**That little pervert? Look, strength; **_**true**_** strength, is something you can't learn from others. There are certain things that you have to do yourself, Kit. You can't keep relying on him. Let him wallow in his porn. And if you really need a teacher that bad… then…" **The Kyuubi turned his gaze to the side, feigning indifference. **"Then I guess… **_**I**_** can teach you a thing or two…"**

Naruto arched an eyebrow and shook his head in disbelief. Did… the Kyuubi actually _offer_ to help him…?Was he just hearing things…?

"_W-What… What did you say…?"_

"**I said… I might take some time every now and then to educate you, fleshbag."**

Naruto still couldn't believe it. First, the Kyuubi tried to pay him a compliment. And now, he was actually offering to teach him? It all sounded too good to be true. Maybe it was.

"_And how do I know you aren't just going to use those opportunities to try and escape…?"_

"**Heh." **The Kyuubi allowed a smug grin to pass over his countenance. **"Well then I guess you're just going to have to trust me then, huh Kit? The Sound ninja are coming, and so is the son of that White Fang boy. Make your choice, Kit."**

Naruto smiled back at the Kyuubi.

"_I guess so, huh… Kyuubi."_

The Demon glanced over at the boy.

"_Thank you, for everything."_

With that said, Naruto left the soul room.

When he regained consciousness, the Uzumaki boy immediately started his preparation. He took off his headband, soaked it in his own blood, and placed it on a root that lie beside the river; making it seem as if his lifeless body had floated down. When everything had been prepared for, he concealed himself in the forest…

* * *

Kakashi had arrived at the battlefield just moments before the Sound ninjas. He immediately saw the Uchiha boy, picked him up, and placed him on his shoulders. The copy nin, as much as he hated to admit it, was starting to panic. The Sound ninja were on their way; he could smell it. He still hadn't seen any signs of Naruto, and even though they couldn't possibly stand a chance against him, he was still gravely outnumbered. He tried to activate his sharingan in order to aid in his search, but to no avail; he was still exhausted and to use it would only sap the last of his strength. He was about to leave when, suddenly, he stepped on something rather soft. What he saw was something he could hardly believe; it was the two arms of the Snake Sannin himself, torn clean off. That's when he knew; Orochimaru had been here.

"_Who did this? Was it Sasuke? No, from the looks of it, he's been out for nearly an hour now…"_

There were two trails of blood present on the ground. One led to the forest; he had assumed that Orochimaru had left this trail as he was trying to escape. The other… the other trail led to the river.

Tears welled up in Kakashi Hatake's eyes as he saw the bloody headband that was caught in the roots that lay beside the river.

"…Pakkun…"

The ninken knew all too well what had shocked Kakashi. He immediately grabbed the headband and ordered the other ninken to bring Orochimaru's arms with them. They couldn't afford to lose any more time mourning; they had to go, now.

"Kakashi!" The dog's muffled yell managed to snap Kakashi out of his melancholic trance. Pakkun had secured Naruto's headband in his mouth.

Without another word, Kakashi Hatake left…

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Well here it is. The 1st official chapter of this new story. I've got a lot of plans for this fic, so I hope you guys like it so far. I know, the plot isn't that original so far, but like I said, I've got a lot of plans... (mwahahaha)**


	3. Chapter 2: To be Remembered

Chapter 2: To Be Remembered

There was a knock on the door of the Hokage's room. Tsunade anxiously bid them to come in. She hadn't the slightest clue what happened in the Valley of the End, and she was more than willing to find out. Of course; she was half-hoping that the blonde haired boy would enter along with Kakashi, but she quickly dismissed the thought when she realized that he must have been taken to the hospital first. Kakashi entered the room along with his hounds.

"Kakashi! What happened?"

The copy ninja merely stared straight into the eyes of the Hokage.

"The fight was over when I got there. I managed to retrieve Sasuke; he's in the hospital as we speak. The curse mark had taken its toll on him and I don't expect him to regain consciousness for at least a few days. We also found this."

Two of Kakashi's ninja dogs stepped forward, and placed the arms of the Snake Sannin on the table of the Hokage.

"T-This… This is…!"

"Yes. He must've arrived there before I did. The only things I found were that, and two trails of blood; one leading to the forest; I assumed Orochimaru had left it as he tried to escape, and the other…"

Tsuande's eyes widened; she knew what was coming, but she couldn't bring herself to believe it. Kakashi didn't make another sound; the look on Tsunade's face told him enough. Words didn't have a place in this discussion; they wouldn't amount to anything, not when they were facing the possibility of something so unreal. He grabbed the hands of the Hokage, and placed in their grip, the bloodied headband. With that, Kakashi promptly turned on his heels, and walked away as fast as he could. When he left the room, complete silence had entered in his place. The still air had made it almost hard to breathe; the bitter idea of death was something that the Fifth Hokage found very difficult to digest at the moment, or rather, it was something that she was choking on. The raindrops poured mercilessly on her windowpane; and just as heavily did her tears fall.

* * *

In the hallways of the Hokage's building, the same silence seemed to linger. There were no people; the people who usually inhabit the bustling hallway had gone to the hospital to assist in treating the wounded. In the dark and silent halls, Kakashi Hatake was leaning on the wall right outside the Hokage's door. He was exhausted; not just because he traveled a good distance chasing after his two students who were trying to kill each other, but also because of the sudden turn of events. His knees gave in under him. His body slid down the wall until he was sitting on the floor. He hung his head down. His hands began to quiver and soon, his emotions flooded and overwhelmed him; as if a dam had broken within his chest. The calm and composed façade had been utterly destroyed.

"_Those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum…"_

His mask was soaked in tears now; in more ways than one, Naruto reminded him of an old friend. The tears were for the times when he had failed the boy; for the times when he should have given the boy more of his attention; for all the things he failed to say and for all the things he failed to do. His tears were all for the boy.

It was late; it had gotten dark out. The sun had set on the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

* * *

The next morning, The Fifth Hokage announced to the entire Village that Naruto Uzumaki had died. Some villagers cheered; some remained indifferent. Nearly none of the Villagers saw it as a loss; in their eyes, they had gotten rid of the monster that had plagued them. The excitement didn't last long though. Immediately after watching the Villagers cheer for the boy's demise, she yelled at the top of her lungs.

"You… You fucking idiots! How dare you?!" Tsunade's voice betrayed her; sobs were swelling in her chest once again. "You call him a demon, a monster, and trash; but the truth is he was more of a human than _any_ of you! Did any of you even know who he was?" Silence fell upon the mass of people gathering in front of the Hokage's building. For a while, Tsunade thought about revealing his secret, but was stopped when Shizune put her hand on her shoulder and shook her head.

_It… It wouldn't make any difference. Not anymore…_

"How dare you… H-How dare you…" Tsunade's sobs could be heard all throughout the Village.

* * *

Shikamaru was sitting in his hospital bed, idly wasting away his time. He had locked all the doors; intent on keeping to himself. He wasn't hurt that badly, but he just couldn't take all the celebration and cheerfulness that was going on outside. After all, the person whose death they were celebrating _was_ his friend. He was like a brother to him. Sure, back then he would often say that people; Naruto in particular, were troublesome to deal with, but now… he would give up anything; go through _any_ trouble, just to have the blonde annoyance back… anything…

* * *

Chouji refused to believe it at first. When Asuma had told his team what happened, he just laughed it off at first, thinking it was some sort of practical joke.

"_He wouldn't die like that! Despite what people say about him, he's strong! No way would he die."_

It took a while till the news finally sank in. He politely asked his sensei if he could be excused from training that afternoon, and walked somberly home. That night, and every other day and night that came after that, he refused to eat anything. He locked himself inside his room, and refused to leave, despite his father's entreating and his mother's knocking.

* * *

Ino was walking down the road alone. She had just finished visiting Shikamaru and now she was on his way to Chouji's house. Everyday she'd visit the two; she'd try to get Shikamaru to talk and try to get Chouji to eat. Every day she would fail. She had no time to grieve; she had to be strong, for Asuma-sensei _and_ for her team. But that didn't mean that she wasn't dying on the inside as well. She hadn't really spoken much to the blonde-haired boy in the past; she was too busy chasing after a certain Uchiha. For the longest time, she saw him as nothing more than a mere annoyance. And now that he was gone, she felt empty. She had treated him like trash, and now she regretted it. The boy had always smiled at her; he never even said a single hurtful thing to her, not once. And yet, the only thing she had been to him was cold and indifferent. Now, it was her turn to feel cold, and lonely…

* * *

Iruka and Shino just sat inside the empty classroom silently. They didn't have to say a single word to each other. Shino stared blankly at the wall, while Iruka sat in the chair where Naruto used to sit.

"Damn it!"

Iruka had punched the table with all his might, but Shino just sat still; not at all surprised by the sudden outburst of emotion from his former teacher. Iruka began to cry uncontrollably in his hand, while Shino merely fixed his gaze upon the man; his shades were fogging up.

* * *

Hinata was overcome by grief; she turned to the only person who knew just how much she loved the blonde-haired boy for comfort, Kiba. They both just sat in the Hyuuga heiress' room; Hinata would be crying her eyes out, while Kiba and Akamaru tried desperately to console her. Of course they were hurt as well, but right now, in their eyes, Hinata had to come first. Every day she would mourn for her lost love, and every day he would try to pick up the pieces of her broken heart.

* * *

Sakura was assigned to guard Sasuke. The first three nights were the hardest; the Uchiha would try to escape every five minutes. On the fourth night, Sakura had just about gotten sick and tired of it. She raised her hand at the Uchiha boy who was struggling to break free of the binds that kept him on the hospital bed, and brought it down, slapping the Uchiha as hard as she could on the face. Sasuke stared at her in a mix of fear and amazement.

"What the hell do you think you're doing…?"

He stared at her; she had her head hung down. When she looked straight into the Uchiha's eyes, the boy stiffened. Tears were welling up in her eyes. The curse mark receded.

"What the hell were you thinking Sasuke…? I thought we were friends! Why… Why did you do what you did! What the hell's the matter with you?"

She began to repeatedly slap the Uchiha as hard as she could.

"O-Ouch! O-Okay Okay! S-Stop!"

Sakura's hands were now trembling. She looked into the boy's eyes again, intent on getting the point across.

"Naruto died for you…! He thought of you as his best friend; as his brother! Why… why did you do it Sasuke…? Why don't you just come back to being the old Sasuke…?"

Ever since Naruto's encounter with Orochimaru, the power and influence of the curse mark had started receding. The continuous flow of Orochimaru's chakra fueled the curse mark, but it seemed that as every second passes, the chakra that fueled it seemed to grow less and less. The boy's mind cleared; the weight of what he had just done; of everything he had just done, came down on him. His eyes welled up with tears.

"Sakura… I… I'm sorry…"

The words jolted the pink-haired girl. She stared at the Uchiha, who had now turned away from her in an attempt to hide his tears.

"I'm sorry… for everything…"

She couldn't hold back her tears anymore. After hearing those words, the pain inside her chest subsided, but only by a little.

* * *

After the Hokage made the announcement, Teuchi and Ayame were in disbelief. Naruto had been like a son to Teuchi, and a brother to Ayame. And now that the boy was dead, they couldn't bear to watch the Leaf celebrate it. They bore resentment toward their own Village for being so callous and uncaring; for not even spending a second to try and understand the boy. They closed the Ichiraku Ramen stand, fully intent that if they could no longer make ramen for Naruto, then the entire Village would never taste their ramen ever again.

* * *

"Konohamaru-kun? Please come out." Moegi insisted. Konohamaru had locked himself in an abandoned warehouse ever since he found out that Naruto had passed away.

"No! I'll never come out! Not until the Village starts mourning Naruto-kun!"

Gaara, who had just happened to be passing by, heard Konohamaru's cry. He walked over to the door of the warehouse. Moegi and Udon were fixated on him with unsure gazes, completely ignoring the boy and the girl that had followed Gaara.

"Konohamaru-kun?"

"W-Who… Who are you…?"

"My name is Gaara. I was a friend of Naruto-kun."

The door immediately opened.

"What do you want…?"

"I want to speak with you."

With that, Gaara entered the warehouse and sat down next to Konohamaru. The boy just sat there and played with his scarf when suddenly, Gaara grabbed his shoulders, looked into his eyes, and asked him.

"You miss him, don't you?"

"Y-Yeah…"

Konohamaru had started crying now.

"It's not fair!" The boy yelled. "Naruto-kun did his best! He was always happy and he was always trying to help the village! So why…? Why are they so happy now that Naruto-kun is gone? Why do people want to forget about him so badly…?"

Gaara didn't know what to say. He didn't know how to explain it to the boy; the fact that Naruto was a Jinchuuriki, that is. Konohamaru cried into Gaara's shirt, while the red haired boy tried to console him. He couldn't help but think to himself. It _wasn't_ fair.

"_You have to win to be loved… and you have to be loved to be remembered."_

* * *

Jiraiya couldn't take all the celebrating; he hated how the Village treated Naruto. The boy gave his life to bring back one of their own; a boy who, in his opinion, was not even worthy of salvation, and still the Village treated him like trash. He regretted not being able to spend more time with the boy. He was the boy's godfather for Kami's sake, but what did he do when Minato died? He ran. What if he hadn't? What if he had stayed with the boy; protected him, cared for him?

"_Things would be different. He would still be alive right now…"_

He blamed himself. All those years of doing his perverted research; they were all wasted years in his eyes. Every second he spent doing something else could have been another second of the boy's company. He had failed Naruto; as a teacher and as a godfather. He left the Hidden Leaf to wallow in his guilt and sorrow; vowing never to return to the Village that had taken away the most precious thing to him not once, but twice. He decided to bring the news of the boy's untimely death to the Village of the Wave. When he told them what had happened, they created a statue of Naruto and placed it in the middle of the Great Naruto Bridge. There was a message engraved on the stone that the Naruto sculpture was standing on.

"_Those who pass here are to always remember Naruto Uzumaki,_

_The hero who saved this Village."_

In this cruel world, you have to win to be loved; and you have to be loved to be remembered.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

Just wanted to do a short chapter about the leaf. I'll do a couple more of these as the story progresses but for now, I figured it would suffice to show the state that Naruto's untimely "death" has left the Leaf in. The Next few chapters are going to have a bit more action in them though! What's to become of our blonde-haired Jinchuuriki?


	4. Chapter 3: A New Hero

Chapter 3: A New Hero

"_Are you sure about this…?"_

"**Yes! Look, you puny humans need food to survive right? To get food, don't you need money?"**

"_Yeah but… robbing bandits seem too… ironic."_

"**Listen! See that piece of trash in front? He raped a woman!"** the Kyuubi was lying through his teeth. In truth, he just wanted to get into a fight.

"_Really? That scum! Wait… how the hell are you so sure?"_

"**Well…" **The Kyuubi tried to think of something. He couldn't.

"**I-If you don't kill him now, someday he will!"**

Naruto sighed, to some extent; he knew the Demon was right. He _was _broke and he had no decent attire. If someone were to spot him, they would know who he was immediately. Then again, maybe he was just overestimating his fame/infamy.

"_Fine…"_

With that, Naruto charged out of the bushes. He appeared almost instantly in front of the man who was carrying the bag of money and landed a straight right to the side of his face, knocking him into a tree. The four other bandits took out their weapons and charged at Naruto with reckless abandon. Naruto dodged the first attack and landed a roundhouse kick to the back of the man's head. He then used the man as a stepping stone and propelled himself upwards.

"**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"**

Upon hearing that, two of the three remaining men looked upwards, only to find a foot coming down at their faces. Naruto and his clone landed a solid axe kick on the two bandits and landed in a crouching position. The last remaining bandit; who now thought that he had the element of surprise on his side, slashed at Naruto. The blade ripped through flesh and bone as it made its way through Naruto's body then, suddenly, his prey disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto; the _real _Naruto, was looking at him with a smile on his face, cracking his knuckles. He stood a few feet away from the man who was now quivering in fear. The boy drew his hand back, but before he could even bring it forward, a large amount of red chakra burst out of his fist. It made contact with the man's sternum, crushing his chest plate along with his ribs. Naruto heard a loud cracking sound before the man was aptly sent flying. He crashed through tree after tree, leaving a hole in the trunks as he pierced right through them. His flight ended when he crashed into the face of a cliff; nearly half a mile away from where he originally stood.

"**Ha!"**

The boy stared at his hands for a moment, and then narrowed his eyes.

"_What the hell was that…?"_

"**That was me getting in on the action, mortal."**

"_I know! But… how the hell did you do that!"_

"**Your seal was made to keep my malevolent chakra from spewing out and taking control of you. That means that if I intend for my chakra to take over you, then it would remain locked up in this cage. But, if I channel a controlled amount of chakra and mold it with yours, I can either expel my chakra from your body or use it to strengthen you. And seeing as you have practically no control of my power, I just channeled a tail's amount of chakra into your fist, and released it. That would explain why taking control of my four-tailed chakra didn't seem so hard. Did you really think that you could beat me if I put up a fight, dimwit?"**

"_You mean to tell me… THAT YOU COULD HAVE DONE THAT ALL ALONG?"_

"**Yes."**

"_Why didn't you? We could have easily knocked out Sasuke! Or captured Zabuza and Haku! Or…"_

"**Simple, Kit; because I didn't like you."**The Kyuubi said with a smile. **"Consider this proof. I'm not going to try and escape."**

Naruto couldn't help but smile as well. He chuckled to himself, and said.

"_I guess this is the start of our partnership, huh?"_

The Kyuubi flinched when he heard that word. He was still getting used to the idea of not being treated like a monster.

"**Heh. I guess so."**

Without another word, Naruto grabbed the bag of money as well as the cloak that the man dropped when Kyuubi sent him flying, tied up the four bandits, and dragged them with him. He figured that they would probably have a bounty on their heads, and he was more than happy to send them to jail.

"**Hey, Kit."**

"_What?"_

"…**Kurama."**

"_What?"_

"**My name you idiot! It's Kurama…"**

Naruto's body froze. He never knew that they Kyuubi had a name; hell, he thought Kyuubi _was_ his name. He smiled silently to himself and to his new-found friend and companion.

"_Good to know, partner."_

* * *

After a few hours of walking, Naruto finally found his way to a nearby village. It was relatively small, and it looked as if someone had attacked it. The fences were broken and the windows were shattered; there were even a few people who were injured and lying on the street. When the villagers spotted Naruto, they all stared at him in disbelief. Naruto, in a fit of self-consciousness and panic, froze in place.

"_Crap! They recognized me already! But how? I'm wearing a cloak to hide my clothes! Crap!"_

To his surprise, the villagers suddenly started smiling at him and cheering. An old man holding a pitchfork approached him and grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Kid, Thank you so much!"

"Uh what for?"

"For capturing those bandit scum, that's what!"

Naruto glanced at the four bandits that he was dragging along with him. It seemed that they were responsible for all the damage that had been done to the Village. The old man then ushered him into his home while the Villagers thanked him and patted him and praised him on the way there. For once in his life; he felt truly appreciated. He felt like he was no longer the idiot, dead-last, disappointment that everyone in his former village thought him to be. He felt like a hero.

Once he was in the house, the old man immediately rushed into the kitchen to make some tea for his guests. The Jinchuuriki cautiously took a seat on the mat and was soon greeted by his host. The old man set the tea on the table and sat in front of Naruto as well.

"How did you do it? What happened, kid? Surely you had help? I mean, you're so young! Oh, I'm sorry; I'm being rude, asking too many questions!"

"Uhm… no, I didn't have any help."

"Really? That's amazing!" The old man exclaimed. "You must be a ninja then?"

Naruto's expression brightened upon hearing the word. Pride swelled in his chest.

"Actually, I _am_ a nin—"

The blonde stopped himself from uttering the last syllable of the word. He touched his forehead; he wasn't a ninja. Not anymore. He no longer carried the pride of Konoha, or of any other Village for that matter. He had run away from it all. The bright expression on his face seemed to fade away in half a second, only to be replaced by an emotionless mask.

His life as a ninja of the leaf was over; he was no longer Konoha's Uzumaki Naruto.

"I'm… a nine year-old boy…"

"What? You look like you're 13 or 14 to me though!"

"Oh… Yeah, I forgot. I _am_ 13 years old…" The blonde nonchalantly stated, scratching the back of his head as he did so. Just as Naruto was about to take a sip of his tea, a young woman came rushing down the stairs, only to trip on her own foot as she reached the bottom.

"Father? Is it true? Is there a hero in town?"

"Nanami? W-Well, yes. I mean, h-he's right here…"

The old man gestured towards Naruto, who had his eyes set on the girl. Her amber curls were thick and long enough to cover parts of her face as well as trail down her neck and her right shoulder, but they weren't enough to hide the faint tinge of pink that seemed to appear on her smooth rosy cheeks. She sat down beside Naruto who, without even noticing it, shot her one of his foxy grins. The blush on her cheeks intensified and her gaze shot down at the table; it was the first time in her life that a boy had been allowed inside their home. Mostly because in their little village, the young ambitious ones move to a different village in order to earn prestige and money that they could use to support their home Village. Consequently, the only people left in the Village are young women and old men; that, and the fact that the blonde boy's smile had a tad bit of flirtatiousness in it. Before Naruto could notice her reaction, she had already bowed her head to him.

"T-Thank you for helping our Village; my name is Nanami, please let me know if I could do anything to help you!"

"W-What are you doing!" Naruto yelled as he tried to sit her straight. Her father had watched their entire interaction quite observantly; particularly his daughter's reaction to the presence of their young Village hero. Being the good natured father that he was, he pounced on the opportunity to embarrass his daughter in front of her new-found crush.

"I too am grateful, my boy. And should you wish to marry my daughter in return for the deed you have done for us, I shall gladly give you my blessing."

In utter shock of what they had just heard, the two utter a loud 'what?!' in unison, only to be drowned out by the sound of the old man's cackling. After a full three minutes, the old man had managed to compose himself enough to extend a proper welcome to their hero.

"Well, jokes aside, welcome to Nagarerunamida; The Village of the Flowing Tears. My name is Tatsunaegi, the village chief. You can call me Old man Tatsu, as everyone else in the village does. Tell me though young man, where do you live?"

"Uhm… I'm kind of a… wanderer at the moment." Naruto said, before calmly sipping from his cup.

The sudden news of the boy's homelessness made Nanami turn her gaze quickly upon Naruto, as well as make the old man choke on a bit of his tea. They stared at Naruto's nonchalance in complete shock, that is, until Old man Tatsu decided to break the silence by barraging him with questions. Naruto, who was taken aback by the suddenness of the questions, could do nothing but scratch the back of his head and grin while Nanami's gaze never left Naruto. There was an odd silence that pervaded in the still air of the living room after the blonde boy had finished answering some of the old man's questions. Tatsu opened his mouth, only to be cut off by his daughter.

"You can stay here as long as you wish. I'm sure father would not mind."

"N-Nanami… I don't really have a choice in this do I…?"

"Of course not father! He just saved our village. It's the least we could do…"

She shot her father a look that could get her anything she wanted; her mouth was half-pouting, her eyes were watering, and her lower lip quivered as she gazed into her father's eyes. Sooner or later, Tatsu's resolve wavered.

"…Oh fine. You can stay. But…"

The unfinished sentence managed to catch the attention of the boy, as well as double the tension in the air.

"You've yet to tell us your name."

Naruto choked on a bit of his tea. His eyes quickly scanned the room; trying frantically to find an object he could name himself after, until finally he consulted his partner out of sheer desperation.

"_My name!? What the hell do I tell them furball!?"_

"**Why are you asking me, runt? Just tell them your real name."**

"_I can't do that! Look, until they find my body, the elders of Konoha are going to assume I'm still alive and mark me as a missing nin. I obviously can't let them find me."_

"**So what if they do? Just kill anyone they send after you!"**

"_And if they send my old team?"_

"**Kill them. The Uchiha boy dies first."**

"_And if they send my friends?"_

"**Kill them."**

"_And if Tsunade Baa-chan comes after me herself, along with Ero-sennin?"_

"…**Kill them."**

"_That's your solution for everything!" _

"**Damn right it is! And it works too!"**

"_Forget it, this conversation is over."_

The Jinchuuriki, much to his annoyance, heard a loud snicker coming from his prisoner as he left the soul room. In his state of panic, Naruto blurted out the first name he could think of.

"My name… is… Kurama; Kurama… Kitsune…?" The blonde boy said hesitantly. Tatsu narrowed his eyes upon hearing the name, and finally commented on it.

"Kurama Kitsune… What an odd name. Well, anyway, welcome Kurama, to our little Village. Please make yourself at home."

Naruto smiled at his generous host and to his adorable daughter as well. Never before had he been welcomed by a complete stranger into his home. He was so used to being mistreated, abused, glared, and at times even attacked. The thought of being welcomed into someone's home after having just one conversation… it was completely unbelievable to him. His memories flashed back to his days living in Konoha; the Village where everyone hated him and nobody acknowledged him. Even the people whom he regarded as friends, to some extent, had treated him like trash; and for what reason? Because he didn't have a family? Because he was the nine tail's warden? Because he didn't have any parents? Or was it because he was the idiot, the loser, dead-last Naruto? It was a bitter pill to swallow; a harsh reality to accept; but in truth, he had nothing; nothing to his name but the false dignity and pride that he carried around just so the insults and the glares wouldn't hurt so much.

Leaving Konoha was easy for him to do not because he knew he'd come back to it someday, but because he knew deep down that battered heart of his that he had nothing there in the first place; nothing to lose; nothing to walk away from.

He looked solemnly at his hands, which were now starting to quiver. Being acknowledged and accepted had moved the boy so much that his eyes had actually started to water up. As much as he didn't want to cry in front of his kind hosts, he couldn't think of a way to hold it back. But the Kyuubi could.

"**You realize that they're only treating you like this because they don't know what you are, right?"**

The tears that were forming in his eyes disappeared. He hadn't taken that into account; he was far too moved to take it into account. And as much as he was grateful for the Kyuubi's interference, it didn't make it hurt any less.

"…_Don't mess with me, you bastard."_

A low chuckle was the only reply that he received from the Fox Demon. When he was once again aware of his surroundings, both Tatsu and Nanami were staring at him with a puzzled countenance. The amber haired girl placed her soft hands gently on Naruto's.

"K-Kurama…? Are you alright…?"

"…Yes, I'm fine. Thank you for your generous offer. I promise that I will do my best to help the town during my stay."

"That's the spirit, young man! Now, it's getting late. My daughter will show you to her bedroom, I'm confident that you have no problem with sleeping in the same bed with a woman, yes?"

The response was once again a loud 'what?!' from the two, which was once again drowned out by the old man's laughter. When the bleeding of his nose had stopped, Naruto composed himself and bowed to the old man.

"I know its late Tatsu-san, but I have something important to do. I will be back later after finishing with that, and patrolling the village. Bandits like those tend to hunt in large groups. They'll probably send men to look for those other four."

"A-Are you sure you can handle them? We can help you if you want!"

"There's no need for that Tatsu-san, besides, they'll probably only have thirty men at max. They need about seventy more to make it an even fight" The blonde boy said, styling his trademark foxy grin as he did so, which caused the old man to laugh at the boy's confidence, or rather, bravado. And with that, Naruto left the house to patrol the town, but not before throwing one more glance towards Nanami.

* * *

Naruto arrived at an open clearing, after patrolling the village for a good ten minutes. It was a large meadow with a small lake and a waterfall right beside it. The dense forests surrounded it and managed to hide it from the view of the village as well as that of other territories. Without wasting any more time, the blonde boy sat on the ground, and entered his soul room.

"**What are you doing here?"**

"_You said you'd make me stronger, yes? Well, I'm here to make sure that you make good on that."_

A devilish grin appeared on the fox's face.

"**Well, let's get started then, Kit."**

* * *

******Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**I'm not so sure about these Japanese words I'm coming up with. I know they don't look or sound very nice, but my Japanese _is_ very, very rusty. I will happily take into consideration all corrections and insights though, so please, don't hesitate to review, so that I would know how to make this a better reading experience for you guys. On the next chapter, what will happen when the trouble starts brewing?**


	5. Chapter 4: A Bloody Vow

Chapter 4: A Bloody Vow

The once beautiful clearing was now reduced to what looked like a battlefield. There were smoldering craters scattered about and the waterfall was barely flowing. The trees that had surrounded it looked as if something massive had whipped right through them, breaking them in two as if they were nothing but twigs. In the middle of all the mayhem, stood a panting blonde haired boy, on the verge of collapsing. He let out a slight laugh.

"_Kura-kun… I think we overdid it this time."_

"**Heh. I think so too, it matter though? You did well today. To be honest, I expected you to die after managing to control five of my tails."**

"_Well thank you for your rock solid faith in me. Where would I be without your charming personality and your skill in making everybody feel better through words?"_

"**You'd be in Konoha with your sissy friends living your sissy life in your sissy world. You're welcome."**

Naruto just chuckled at this. In the past year that he spent staying in Nagarerunamida, he had started to form a bond with Kyuubi. He was more than just a prisoner to Naruto, and the boy was more than just the Kyuubi's ball and chain. In fact, they were starting to act like Father and Son. Naruto dusted himself off, and started to walk back home, where Nanami would be waiting for him with a steaming hot bowl of ramen, like she does every night. His thoughts trailed off to the times he had spent with her; when she thought him how to fish and trained him in the way of the garden. She was such a lovely girl; often times Naruto couldn't help but stare at her, even after she's caught him looking. In a way, Naruto was thankful that he had left Konoha; that Sasuke had done what he did. it seemed a bit selfish now that he thought about it, but if none of that happened then he wouldn't be here right now, walking home to a beautiful young lady that waited up for him every night. He wouldn't have her as his best friend. His mind traced all the way back to when he decided to tell her his deepest, darkest secrets…

* * *

_ The young blonde had just finished confessing everything to the amber haired beauty sitting beside him; for a while, a long while, she just sat there silent and unmoving. Naruto had anticipated her reaction; he knew that if he told her, it'd be the end of his life in their village, the end of his life with her. When she stood up, Naruto expected her to turn away and leave, perhaps even throw a rock at him before aptly running away, but much to his surprise, she did none of that. She walked closer to the boy, and embraced him tightly from behind; tears flowing down the hazel brown eyes of hers. Naruto was shocked._

"_T-That must have been so hard K-Kurama, I mean, N-Naruto-kun! I-I can't believe those people would do that to you. You must have been in so much pain…"_

"_Aren't you afraid of me…? Aren't you afraid of what I am…? I'm a failure AND a demon…"_

"… _Naru-kun, I don't care about who or what you were before. What matters to me is who you are now. You're the nicest person I know and I…"_

_ Naruto turned around to return her embrace, but was taken aback by her words that soon followed._

"_I l-love you Naru-kun…"_

_ Tears were welling in the young boy's eyes. Never before had he heard such tender words, especially not from someone of the opposite sex. A smile flashed across the boy's face._

"_I love you too Nanami-chan."_

_ After a few more moments of silent embracing, Nanami broke away and looked straight into Naruto's eyes._

"_Listen to me Naru-chan, as long as I'm here, I won't ever let anybody treat you that way ever again. I promise."_

"_Thank you Nanami-chan. And I promise that as long as I'm here, I won't ever let anyone hurt you, believe it!"_

_ With that, Naruto bit his thumb and drew blood. He stuck out his hand in a gesture of a handshake. For a short while, Nanami just stared at the extended hand, but soon noticed that there was still blood on the boy's lips. Without thinking, she planted the softest of kisses on Naruto's lips, causing him to jolt upright and to blush furiously. When she pulled away, both their gazes met the ground, while Naruto fiddled with his thumb._

"_L-listen Nanami-chan, nobody else knows my secrets, so if it's okay with you, p-please call me Kurama whenever we're in front of other people…"_

_ She smiled that ever-so gentle smile of hers, which was emphasized by the light shade of pink on her cheeks._

"_Sure thing, Kura-chan."_

_ With that, they walked home, hand in each other's hand._

* * *

A smile crossed the countenance of our blonde-haired hero as he vividly recalled those moments. He had a dazed look on his face, which Kurama took as a chance to embarrass the boy even further.

"**You know, back in my day when we liked someone from the other sex, we'd sneak up behind them, and just stick it in! Last one to it is a sissy."**

Naruto dropped to his knees, blood gushing out of his nose. When he managed to compose himself, he continued his walk home.

"_Don't feel bad about yourself Kura-kun, I don't think you're a sissy, well, not that much of one anyway."_

"**Watch your mouth you insolent bag of bones! I can still kick your ass all over this fucking forest. Besides, I caught **_**plenty**_** of tail back in my day, more than nine, ha!**

Naruto was once again stopped dead in his tracks. Did Kyuubi just make a joke…? He shook it off for now, since he didn't want to keep a certain someone waiting.

"_Okay, that was pretty clever, I'll give you that much. But honestly though, I always thought foxes would be sly, cunning, and clever, but you… you're just a big, vulgar, ball of fur, aren't you?"_

"**And you're just a stupid little human."**

"_Heh."_

"**Heh. Anyway, I'm going back to sleep. Wake me up when you find the guts to stick it in."**

And with that, Naruto aptly exploded. He unconsciously yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Enough talk about me sticking it in her!"

Due to the outburst of emotion, Naruto didn't seem to notice that he was already home. He looked to his right only to find Nanami, red as a tomato.

"K-Kurama-chan… isn't it a b-bit too soon for t-that…? B-But if y-you really w-want t-to…"

Nanami proceeded to unbutton her blouse, but before she could even take it off, Naruto collapsed on the ground, unconscious. Nanami just smiled at the sight. After a few moments, she picked Naruto up off the ground, and whispered.

"I love you, baka."

Meanwhile, in the forest, unintelligible chanting and hums could be heard, and they seemed to be moving closer and closer to the village.

* * *

The next morning, Naruto decided to head straight to the fields to help the farmers. He wanted to help the village as much as he could, and his Kage Bunshins were perfect for the job. When Naruto was still a ninja of Konoha, he could only produce about three hundred Bunshins at max, but now, due to the past year of training with the Kyuubi, he had better chakra control and he could produce thousands. He would assign some to help out the carpenters, others to hunt for food, while the rest would assist in farming and was just getting into the groove of farming when suddenly; a Villager came running towards the farmland.

"Oi! You won't believe this! A group of guys in black cloaks is causing trouble in the village. They call themselves the Priests of Dega or something like that. They're trying to take all the women in the village!"

Nothing else needed to be said. All the men grabbed whatever weapon they could get their hands on, and rushed towards the village circle with flames in their eyes. Naruto and his clones, of course, did the same; for fear of losing Nanami. When they arrived in the village center, there was indeed a group of men clad in black robes, and one of them was grabbing Nanami by the arm.

"Bastard! Let Nanami go!"

Without another word, Naruto charged in at full speed only to be met by a punch in the side of his head.

"_The hell? I thought these guys were just regular priests? They're faster than the ninjas I've gone up against!"_

Naruto pushed off the ground right as he fell, and flipped backwards and away from his enemies. As if on cue, the villagers immediately backed away, effectively turning the Village center into something similar to that of a gladiator arena.

"It pains me how insolent this generation has become… Leave now, boy, before we, The Priests of Dega, are forced to bring unnecessary harm to you or this Village."

Naruto's eyes were now locked onto what would seem to be the leader of the group. He wore a jet black mask and carried around a grotesque staff that looked as if it had once belonged to the body of a hideous creature. On the tip of the staff was a rather large and unsettling eyeball that seemed to peer right through Naruto. The jinchuuriki steeled himself for what he knew was going to be a tough fight. Not only was he outnumbered, he was also fighting what would seem to be jounin-level grunts. The blonde cracked his knuckles and allowed a small smile to pass his expression.

"**You ready for this, Kit?"** The Kyuubi said with a smile.

"_Are you kidding me? Let's get this warm-up over with."_

With that, Naruto gestured at one of the grunts to come at him. When his target, or rather, prey charged in, Naruto simply ducked under the punch and threw a knee to the Priest's chest. Much to his surprise, the Priest jumped away at the last second, and landed a kick to Naruto's face, aptly sending the blonde reeling back.

"_No good, they're faster then they look, and stronger too."_

"**Well then, I guess you'll be needing my help after all, huh kit?"**

"_You__'re not going to let me live this down, are you?"_

"**Never."**

"_I thought so. All right Kura-kun, let's show them what we've been working on."_

Naruto shut his eyes to concentrate. In just a matter of seconds, the wind began whipping around him violently. When he opened his eyes, they were slit and his feral features had become more distinct. The malevolent chakra that seemed to irradiate from him created a pressure that caused most of the villagers to back away from fear. When he had gathered enough chakra, he released it, blowing away a good number of his opponents. The Kyuubi's chakra then seemed to form around Naruto, as if he were mildly glowing with a faint golden hue. The masked man tilted his head slightly at this.

"…Interesting."

"All right, one tail should be enough for you chumps."

Naruto then charged into battle. A group of Priests moved to intercept him, but he was just too fast. Naruto ducked under the kick aimed at his head, grabbed the priest's leg, and threw him into the other priests. When the others rushed towards him, he held up his right hand and formed what looked like a claw.

"Try this on for size! **Kutsume!"**

A dark claw of pure malicious chakra then sprang out from Naruto's hand and grabbed all of the Priests. Screams of pain and terror could burst forth from their mouths as the smell of seared flesh started to fill the air. Naruto threw them into a tree before he accidentally burned them to a crisp. It seemed that the Kyuubi's chakra was more than lethal to anyone other than Naruto. The remaining priests reluctantly surrounded the boy, while Naruto got on all fours and into a feral stance.

"All right, that's enough."

All eyes were now on the masked Priest as he called off the attack on the village. He let go of Nanami, who ran back to her Father's embrace, and turned his back to Naruto.

"It's quite clear that we are outmatched. We will leave. But you listen to me, boy."

He turned around to face Naruto once again and in that moment, Naruto felt a strong surge of killing intent directed at him.

"I don't know who or _what_ you are, but… you _fascinate_ me; you _and_ your little maiden over there." He shot a glance towards Nanami, which only served to piss Naruto off even more. That being said, the masked man aptly walked away and soon all his followers ran after him. Naruto allowed the Kyyubi's chakra to seep back inside him and as he did so, loud cheers and praises erupted from the crowd around him. Once again, Naruto had saved the village. Nanami had rushed to embrace the boy and ended up wrapping herself around him, which of course caused the blonde's face to turn ungodly red. Tatsu, on the other hand, merely watched from afar. He was proud of the boy, that much was a given, but he was also contemplating.

"_Kurama-kun… what are you..?"_

* * *

Later that night, after everyone had passed out in their homes due to the over-abundance of celebration, Tatsu, who was still drinking merrily on the rooftop, had asked the young blonde to sit down and talk. Before Naruto could even ask what him it was about, Tatsu had cut him off.

"Listen to me, Kurama. I don't know _who_ you are, and personally, I don't care. I saw what you did earlier. A lot of the villagers didn't think much of it I'm sure; they were all probably too caught up in celebration to even give it a passing thought, but I did."

The conversation had taken a serious tone. To say that Naruto was nervous would have been an understatement. He was afraid that he would be asked to leave; that he would once again be shunned; that he would have to leave Nanami. Even thinking about it stung like hell. Before Naruto could get a word in, Old man Tatsu continued.

"I saw that _thing_ that came out of you; that chakra." Naruto's eyes had widened, as he was surprised by the fact that Tatsu even knew that word.

"Surprised? Don't be. I was a ninja once too, but then I took a kunai to the knee. I know what chakra is, and what you released earlier was the most malevolent, hateful, and bloodthirsty chakra I've ever seen." The Kyuubi purred in pride upon hearing this. "You know Kurama… when I was young, my mother once told me a story; of a giant beast roaming the forest, eating whoever dares to disturb it. She told me that it could destroy villages in minutes."

"**Heh. Try seconds."**

"_Quiet! He might hear you!"_

"…**Did you get hit in the head too hard or something, brat? He can't hear me, only you can!"**

"_S-Shut up! I'm nervous, so I'm not thinking straight!"_

"At first I had believed it; feared it, in fact. But then as time passed, I started to believe less and less. I thought it was nothing but a childish story; something to keep the children in line. Do you know what the funny thing is, Kurama?"

"W-What, Tatsu-san…?"

"After seeing what you did… I think I was right the first time around."

In that moment, all the anxiety and fear that Naruto had felt vanished, or rather, transformed, into something else; something that caused his body to quiver; something that caused every ounce of his blood to boil, until, he could take it no more. He stood up, still gazing at the ground.

"So, what now? You're going to kick us out? Are you going to shun us too?"

"_Us…?" _Tatsu thought to himelf. Naruto then did something that Tatsu was not at all expecting; he erupted.

"I am so _sick_ of people calling us that, when they don't even know anything! That's how it was in my old village, did you know that? I was treated like trash; _we_ were treated like trash for so long, and no one ever tried to understand me. They didn't know me; they never bothered to know me. When I left, it hurt _so_ much, because it felt like I was abandoning my dreams; like I was throwing away everything that meant something to me! But then, I arrived in Nagarerunamida, and _finally_ I thought. Finally I have a place where I can feel at ease; a place where I never have to be called, or even hear, the word 'monster' ever again. So what gives you the right to act like all the others, Tatsu-jiji? What makes you think you can call us a monster? This _thing_ that you're talking about is my friend, and he isn't a monster! It took me a while to realize it too, I'll admit to that. But when I did, I realized that we aren't so different. He understands me, and I'd like to think that I understand him. He's not a monster. He's my friend and he's the best partner I could ever hope to have!"

Inside Naruto's soul room, the Kyuubi was listening to every word, with a surprised yet somber look on his face. A stray tear rolled down his left cheek.

"_**S-stupid human"**_ the Kyuubi silently thought to himself. Before Naruto could continue with his rage-speech, Tatsu had pulled the young boy into an embrace. Once again, all of the pent-up emotions that once swelled in Naruto dissipated, and was replaced by utter surprise.

"My dear boy, I never said I thought you were a monster. You're different, that's for certain, but different has never been a bad thing. The way I see it, you aren't odd, just limited edition. You've been like a son to me, Kurama-kun. I don't care who you really are, or what happened to you in your past; all I care about is that you take care of yourself, and of my daughter. I love the both of you with all my heart, you see." Tatsu had said so with a smile that seemed to melt Naruto's heart.

"… Thank you Tatsu-jiji."

When Tatsu released the boy, he patted him on the shoulder and smiled to him.

"Now, if I'm not mistaken, I believe Nanami is picking herbs by the lake. You should go see her."

"Hai, Tatsu-jiji." With that, Naruto turned on his heels and prepared to jump off the roof. Before he could do so, though, Tatsu managed to yell one last thing.

"Be sure to use protect- ahh who am I kidding? I'm not getting any younger, and I want to at least see my grandchildren before I die! Go all out Naruto-kun, but be gentle with her!"

After having heard that, Naruto's nose once again turned into a faucet of blood and his knees gave out, causing him to fall to the ground instead of jumping to the nearest roof. Of course, the sound was drowned out by the drunken old man's cackling. When he had recovered, he sprinted towards the lake. It only took him a couple of seconds to get there, and when he did, he saw something that would have easily defeated _any_ ninja, particularly a certain perverted Sannin. Nanami's clothes were on the ground beside the lake while she was completely naked, bathing in the moonlight. At once, Naruto's mind went blank. The only thing he could think of was the word 'nude' passing by non-stop in his head; floating around in the spaces of his imagination. Nanami immediately noticed his presence, and sunk her body down into the water, revealing only her face which was beet-red.

"K-Kurama-chan! W-Why didn't you tell me you w-were there? How l-long have you been s-standing t-there?"

"Ahhhh l-long enough." Naruto said with a blush of his own. He closed his eyes and sat on the edge of the lake, dipping his feet into the pleasantly warm water. Even at the edges, the lake was still chest-deep, so it was quite the surprise for Naruto when he suddenly felt Nanami's hands on his.

"K-Kurama, I mean, N-Naruto-chan… thank you for saving me today."

"It was my pleasure, Nanami-chan!" Naruto said while grinning, eyes still closed.

"Ano, I made something for you." Nanami then proceeded to pull out a necklace from her pile of clothes, and place it in Naruto's hands. Naruto then began to fiddle with it to find out what it was.

"Eh? Open your eyes Naru-chan, you won't be able to see it if you don't." Nanami's face was furiously red as she said this, but nonetheless, she was smiling. She felt completely open and safe around Naruto. When the boy did as he was asked, he saw that the pendant of the necklace was wooden head of a fox. The boy was silenced.

"I-It took a while to make. I'm not quite skilled at carving wood, I had to ask help from the Villagers." She took a quick glance at her hands, which were ridden with small cuts.

"Nanami-chan… it's…" before the boy could even finish his sentence, Nanami pulled him into the water and into an embrace. Naruto wrapped his hands around her as well, not wanting to let go. They stayed that way for a couple of minutes, until, Naruto grabbed onto her waist and gently pushed her away. Nanami frowned a tad bit, obviously disappointed that their little moment was cut short, and obviously not expecting what had happened next. Without another word, Naruto's lips crashed against hers. Nanami returned the gesture with just as much, if not more, passion. Without the blonde-boy's notice, Kyuubi pumped some of his chakra into Naruto's coils, causing him to ignite in orange and golden flames. The chakra then began to envelop not only Naruto but Nanami as well, until both of their bodies were wrapped in the golden aura of the Kyuubi's chakra. The sight itself was tantalizingly beautiful; a golden flame burning fervently in a cool, blue lake bathed by the milky moonlight. In his cage, the Kyuubi let out a frazzled snarl, followed by a smile.

_**Good for you, Kit.**_

After a few more passionate moments, they finally separated, gasping for air as they did so.

"N-Naruto-kun…" Nanami muttered as she took in what was going on around them. "I think you're burning us." She said with a sheepish smile.

"Hmm? Oh, this? It's just the Kyuubi's chakra, it won't burn us. But… while I knew it wouldn't hurt me, I don't know why it's welcoming you."

Nanami only giggled at this. She smiled slightly and planted a soft kiss on Naruto's lips once more.

"Maybe Kyuubi likes me?" She then leaned her head against Naruto's chest to listen to his heartbeat. She whispered in the softest of voices.

"Thank you, Kyuu-chan…"

Kyuubi opened one of his eyes after hearing what the girl said. It wasn't just a 'thank you for this moment'; no, it was more than that. It was a thank you for all those times when he helped Naruto accomplish his goals; a thank you for all the times he healed the boy back from certain death; a thank you for convincing the blonde to leave Konoha and a thank you for convincing him to attack those bandits on that fateful day, when Naruto and Nanami met. It was a thank you that a thousand words couldn't even begin to explain. The Kyuubi answered in a downcast voice.

"… **It was the least I could do."**

Just then though, Nanami's eyes shot open and her body stiffened. She jolted upright and looked Naruto dead in the eyes. Naruto, not knowing what was going on, started to panic, thinking it was the slight 'evolution' occurring within his pants that disturbed her.

"W-What's the matter Nanami-chan?"

"… I heard him."

Naruto's eyes almost buldged out of his head, and so did Kyuubi's. Nanami only touched Naruto's chest once more, and closed her eyes.

"**Impossible! She's bullshitting you, Kit!"**

Nanami immediately backed away, shocked by the words that the Kyuubi had chosen. She let out an adorable little gasp, and yelled in a chastising manner with her finger pointing at Naruto's chest.

"Bad Kyuu-chan!" Just as she said it, the killing intent around her spiked so much so that it caused even the almighty Kyuubi no Kitsune to shrink into himself and whimper a little. Meanwhile, Naruto just stared at Nanami in shock and amazement; not just because she could clearly hear the Kyuubi as if she were a missing part of Naruto, but also because she had managed to tame the Kyuubi; the fox who was considered the strongest being in the shinobi world, in just a matter of seconds.

"Amazing."

"N-Naru-chan… when you were holding me… I saw things. I don't know why or how, but I saw things about you; I saw your entire life flash before _my_ eyes… it must have been so horrible; the heartache, the loneliness, the pain, the betrayal… I can't believe what they did to you… It might be presumptuous of me but, I think I understand Naru-chan a little better now." Her gaze dropped down, only to see for herself how Naruto was reacting to her naked body coming into contact with him, although she didn't comment on it. Naruto, on the other hand, now wore a sad and weak smile on his face. He was about to speak, when Nanami's head suddenly shot up to look him dead in the eye; never before had he seen such conviction and determination. He wanted to laugh, and comment on how her adorable her pout was, but he could tell she was completely serious.

"T-That's why I want to be with Naru-chan forever, so I can make him _and_ Kyuu-chan happy! That way, the boy and the fox I care about will never have to feel lonely again!"

When Naruto heard this, shock overtook both his expression and his body. Never before had such sweet words been said to him, and he was _sure_ that the Kyuubi felt the same. He smiled at her, and patted her head. Inside Naruto's sould room, the Kyuubi had heard everything. His eyes shot open and he immediately awoke from his slumber. A stray tear ran down his face, before he let out an angry snarl, and buried his face in his paws.

"**D-Damn humans! All stupid and whatnot…"**

Nanami felt his hands pat her head. In turn, she just smiled at him sheepishly, and proceeded to bring her lips to his once more. When they separated, Nanami looked at Naruto quizzically.

"Naru-chan, are you sure you aren't burning us?"

"Yeah…" but then, Naruto smelled it; the smell of burning wood, with a tinge of burning… what was it..? Naruto's eyes grew wide with shock. It was the smell of burning flesh. Naruto looked to the south, to the direction of the Village, and saw the sky was vermillion.

"Nanami-chan! Get dressed!"

"W-Why Naru-chan?"

"The village; it's under attack!"

* * *

Back in the village, it was utter chaos. The fire had spread everywhere, and Old man Tatsu was trying his best to save ever villager he could. When it seemed as if everyone was safe, he told them to head to the farmlands, where they would be safe from the fires. Everyone; every man and woman, adult and child, prayed to Kami that he was right. Tatsu, on the other hand, ran all the way back to his home, which was already ablaze. He jumped right through the flames and into the house, hoping to retrieve the single, most important thing in the world to him; a picture of Nanami and her mother. He rummaged through every piece of debris, even through the ones that were already ablaze, effectively burning his hands. When he finally got a hold of it, he kissed it softly and made his way to the exit of the burning house. When he was but a couple of steps away though, he heard cracking directly above him. When he looked up to see what it was, his body stiffened in fear.

When Nanami had gotten dressed, Naruto grabbed her and carried her bridal style.

"Hang on, Nanami-hime." That being said, he took off, jumping from tree to tree. When he was halfway to the village, though, Naruto started to sense that he wasn't alone; he was right. A staff soon hit the side of his head, causing him to fall of the branch, but land safely on his feet. When Naruto saw who he was dealing with, he put Nanami down and cracked his knuckles.

"So, you finally decided to man up and fight me one on one huh? Biggest mistake of your life." As he said this, a wild, feral grin appeared on the boy's face.

"Yes, yes, a fight. Come now, boy, before I get bored."

Naruto created six shadow clones and ordered each to create a Rasengan. When they all had a spinning ball of chakra in their hands, he charged in. The masked man merely hit one with a used his staff to hit one of the clones and send him flying towards the others, the clash of the Rasengans did the rest of the work for him. What he didn't quite anticipate, though, was the blonde boy coming at him full speed. Naruto had leaped over the explosion caused by the Rasengans by using his clones as a stepping stone at the last second. Now, he was going to bring down a ball of pain on the bastard's face, and he was going to enjoy every second of it. Nanamihad thought that Naruto would win this fight for sure, but she hadn't anticipated the Priests that leapt out of the bushes and grabbed her, one of them was holding a knife to her throat. The sudden turn of events caused Naruto to look away from his target for a fraction of a second, but that was all the masked man needed. He thrust his staff upwards and into Naruto's gut, much to Nanami's dismay. Without hesitation, he yelled out **"Seal of Dega!"** for a few seconds, Naruto remained unmoving as the staff began to glow a demonic hue. After those few seconds, the blonde let out a bloodcurdling scream of pain, as did the Kyuubi. When the seal was complete, the masked man threw Naruto's weakened body to the side, watching him as he crashed against a tree and hit every branch on the way down.

"Is that what you call a fight, boy? I'm disappointed…"

Naruto sat there for a while, trembling, but not because of the pain, no. He was trembling because he could feel his blood boiling; his body getting hotter. He knew that the Kyuubi was _pissed_, and when the fox got like that, there was no reasoning with him. No more holding back for the safety of others. No more hiding their true power. Nothing else mattered, except annihilating the man that sought to harm him and his host. Kyuubi raged and roared inside Naruto's soul room; he stuck the bars of his cage repeatedly, yelling 'let me out' and 'I'll eradicate you' all the while, but when the Kyuubi funneled all his chakra to feed the negative emotions of the boy; when he poured out all of his strength into his vessel, nothing happened. Naruto's eyes widened in shock; he couldn't access the Kyuubi's chakra anymore. Did he reinforce the seal? That was impossible, since only the Yondaime knew how the seal worked. How…?

"Surprised, I see. Yes, yes, that seal, it's quite the peculiar thing, is it not? I'm not foolish enough to tell you exactly how the seal works, but I will give you a clue, boy. It will slowly block off your chakra as a certain _thing_ increases. Now, I'll be taking the girl, seeing as we need her for our little… gathering. If I'm not mistaken, don't you have a village to save, child? Don't worry though; you _are_ invited to our gathering. In fact, I would love it if you came. I'll be waiting for you by the lake. Oh and…" the man turned his back to Naruto and proceeded to walk away. "…Do try to make it before midnight." Naruto held out his hand in an attempt to reach for Nanami who, as she was being dragged away, kept screaming for Naruto to save the village, and that she would be waiting for him. When they had disappeared from his sights, Naruto tried desperately to stand. It took all the strength he could muster just to limp towards the Village, but when he got there, tears welled in his eyes.

The sight was pure torture to take in; the houses were all set ablaze and there were dead bodies scattered everywhere. He pushed what little chakra he had into his left hand, which was covering the wound in his gut, seeing as the Kyuubi's chakra was completely blocked off by the seal, he couldn't send his strength to accelerate the boy's healing. Naruto did everything he could to stop the bleeding, but that's when he heard it; the coughing. It came from none other than their house. Without thinking, Naruto rushed to the entrance, which was covered by flaming debris. He peered into the window and was old man Tatsu, lying down under a large wooden beam and coughing. Naruto summoned ten Kage Bunshins; the maximum amount of clones he could create at the moment, and ordered them to clear the way to Tatsu. All of them; the original Naruto and his clones, tried desperately to remove the debris. Naruto could smell his flesh burning as he touched the flaming pieces of wood, but paid no mind to it. After a while, he heard cracking noises coming from the roof; the entire thing was about to come down. Naruto squeezed himself into the small opening that he and his clones had managed to create, and reached out for Tatsu's hand.

"Tatsu-jiji! Grab my hand!"

Tatsu merely stared at the boy with a tear in his eye and a smile on his face. He reached out his hand, but not to grab Naruto's, no. In his hand was the picture of Nanami and her mother. He showed it to Naruto, and said.

"K-Kurama-kun… this is my wife… her name was Minami… Nanami looks so much like her…" tears ran down the blonde's face, as well as the old man's. Naruto smiled as he spoke.

"Tatsu-jiji… grab my hand, and later you can tell me more about her, yeah?"

The man looked straight into the blonde boy's eyes, and slowly shook his head. Nothing needed to be said, in those few seconds he had left. He looked into the boy's dull cerulean eyes, and he looked into his. Tears fell down from Tatsu's face when Naruto nodded slowly; recognizing the unspoken promise that he had asked the boy to make. When the remaining clones heard the cracking sounds from the roof, they grabbed their boss by the ankle and yanked him out of the hole. Naruto's eyes could only gaze in horror as he watched the man he considered a father-figure, get crushed under tons and tons of burning debris. For a short while, Naruto only sat there, silently crying. His mourning was cut short when one of his Bunshins appeared, clearly panicked.

"Boss! It's horrible! Out in the Farmlands, the villagers were resting, but then a group of Priests came and attacked everyone!"

Naruto's eyes widened upon hearing the news, but then slowly shut. When he had opened them once again, his pupils were a dull shade of vermillion, and they were slit. He could feel his rage fighting to take control of his body. Normally, he would fight it off, and regain his composure.

But today was a special occasion.

Before even saying anything, he disappeared, moving so fast that it would have been difficult to even sense his presence even as he passed by you. When he arrived at the fields, what he saw rocked him to the core; the Villagers never stood a chance. It was a massacre. The Priests piled the bodies, men, women and children alike; into one small hill of corpses they then proceeded to set the entire thing ablaze. As Naruto watched on, he could feel something nagging him; bothering him to no end. The dryness of his throat, the sudden impulse to attack,the excitement and rage that he felt; there was no doubt in his mind. What he felt, was bloodlust. He walked out into the field just as the Priests were planning to leave, effectively catching their attention. When all eyes were on him, he flared his chakra, and released all his killer intent. Some of the Priests collapsed due to the intense pressure, and some even contemplated running away. But one Priest, on the other hand, decided to do something _very_ foolish. He stepped forward and yelled.

"Fools! What are you doing? Master Koga told me that the seal has been placed on him! Kill him!"

When no one obeyed, he charged at the blonde boy himself. Naruto only smiled.

"_Biggest mistake of your short, pathetic life."_

He threw a roundhouse kick at the boy's head, only to watch as Naruto ducked under it, and grab his other leg by the ankle. With all his strength, Naruto yanked the man's leg from under him, and threw him into the flaming hill of corpses. The smell of burning flesh filled the air. The burning man let out bloodcurdling screams, as the other Priests cringed at the sight. To Naruto though, it was sweet music to his ears. He wasted no time and charged right at the nearest Priest and jumped, sending him flying into a nearby tree with a spinning back kick to the man's face.

"**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"**

A clone appeared right beside Naruto in midair. The clone then grabbed Naruto by the shoulder, and launched him up, directly into the air. When he had reached the peak of his ascent, Naruto dispelled the clone and created 7 more around him. Four of the summoned clones then grabbed the Naruto adjacent to them, and hurled them into the remaining Priests. It literally rained men. Naruto, along with the other clones that were hurled into the Priests, pumped chakra into their fists, and threw the punch. The blonde jinchuuriki smiled as heard the satisfying crunching sound of bones being shattered. When the dust had settled, Naruto stood there, blood dripping down his fist. He slowly made his way to the man he had knocked into a tree, grabbed him by the neck, and squeezed.

"Why did they take her?!"

"P-Please! D-Don't k-kill me! I-I was only f-f-f-following orders!"

"WHY. DID. THEY. TAKE. HER."

"M-Master Koga told us that w-we needed someone who had a special ability!" S-Someone who could imitate and reflect any and all chakra; someone who could mold themselves into a person yet at the same time, remain a completely separate entity ack!"

The suddenness of the news made Naruto tighten his grip for a fraction of a second. It all made sense now; The Kyuubi's chakra enveloped her as well because she molded herself into him, which is also why she could hear the Kyuubi…

She became one with Naruto. His pain was her pain; his happiness, hers. A number of questions popped up in Naruto's head; was it a Kekkai genkai? A Kinjutsu? Or perhaps something was sealed inside her as well? He put these thoughts away for the moment; all that mattered right now was to save her. He loosened his grip on the man's throat.

"Listen to me. Run; Run away; as far away as you can and as fast as you can. Leave this life behind you and don't you _dare_ forget the courtesy I extended you today. If I ever, _ever_, see your face again…" Without warning, he let go of the man, and watched as he dropped to his knees. "I will rip you to shreds."

After hearing the blonde demon's words, the Priest scuttled away as fast as he could. Naruto watched as the man turned into a dot in his sights, then allowed his gaze to wander. He looked all around him and saw nothing but death and destruction; the small pile of corpses, the burning barn, even the blood red hue of the sky, in a way, reminded him of death.

He couldn't stop any of it; he wasn't fast enough. 'If only', he kept thinking to himself. If only he had gotten there sooner, if only he ignored the pain in his gut and ran like hell. If only. Maybe the village would still be safe. Maybe nobody would have died that night.

Maybe Nanami would still have a father to come home to. He looked up at the sky, and spoke.

"Tatsu-jiji… I promised."

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Long chapter, I know. This chapter was a bit heavy too, but I think the next few chapters are going to be a bit lighter. Or not. I'm not telling.**


	6. Chapter 5: Our First Goodbye

Chapter 5: Our First Goodbye

By the looks of it, it was almost midnight. Naruto stood there, by the lake where he once held Nanami in a tight embrace. A small cave on the far eastern side of the lake had caught his eye, and he deduced that he would find them there, waiting for him. His thoughts raced back to his memories of Nanami, but before he could revisit them, a familiar voice rang in the still air.

"So you decided to come after all, boy. Yes, yes, follow me then."

It was him. The masked man stood a few feet away from Naruto. The jinchuuriki felt his blood boil; oh how he wanted to kill the man right here, right now. He shut his eyes, and slowly but surely, he felt waves of chakra surging inside him.

"_The seal must be weakening! That bastard… I'll rip him to shreds!"_

When he had reopened his eyes, they were no longer the bright shade of cerulean blue that he was so familiar with. They had turned into a darker, more sinister color; a shade of crimson, with the pupils slit. Chakra started to pour out of him and before he knew it, he was engulfed by the three-tailed cloak. He was gone in a flash, but soon reappeared behind the masked man, only to land a devastating blow on his prey's growled in satisfaction as the man's head, or what was left of it, now lay mangled on the ground before him, that is, until he heard the voice once more.

"My, my, someone has quite the temper!" a loud laughing noise now echoed in Naruto's ears. It sounded as if it had come from inside the cave; from right under him. He took a closer look at who he had just killed, and noticed that this wasn't the man he was after. This was just another unlucky Priest wearing a black mask who was foolish enough to think that he could take on Naruto. The rage inside Naruto doubled and bubbled as he felt something else slipping away; what that something was, he couldn't put his finger on it. Perhaps it was his humanity, but then again, perhaps not. Without second guessing his actions or thinking about the consequences, Naruto pumped chakra into his palms to create a medium-sized sphere of spinning chakra. He then slammed it down on the ground below him, causing the ball to grind against earth. The sheer impact of the attack caused the ground beneath him to cave in. Naruto landed in the middle of what looked like a chapel, leaving a small hole in the ceiling; just large enough for the moonlight to shine in. He looked around to see that he was surrounded by hundreds of Priests who looked as if they were just about ready to piss themselves. The chapel was lit by a few candles around the corners of the room, but the main source of illumination had now come from the hole that Naruto created with his entrance. His eyes traveled the room, only to get caught by the most horrific sight he had yet to see; Zabuza's silent killing had nothing on this. He saw Nanami bound to a stone table with chains, completely naked. She had small cuts everywhere on her body, but what made Naruto cringe was the four daggers that were impaled onto her right hand and her right and left feet. They ran through her body and into the stone table, almost as if to further insure that she would not escape her restraints. When she made eye contact with the boy, her lips parted into a small but sheepish grin.

"K-…K-Konbawa N-Naru-chan…"

Naruto cringed in horror as he saw this; tears began forming around the corners of his eye when, out of nowhere, he was decked at the side of the head. He rolled on the ground until his momentum deemed it right for him to stop. Naruto tried desperately to get back up, but his world was spinning. The Priest had hit him harder than he thought. When he regained his bearings, he managed to get up on one knee and see for himself who was behind all this. The masked man appeared from the shadows behind the table, knife in hand.

"Oh, 'Naru-chan'." He had said so in a mocking tone. "So good of you to join us. Your little friend here was just teaching me about her… anatomy." The masked man then began tracing the tip of the dagger across her skin. After a while of doing so, he pressed down slightly and continued tracing it across her skin, leaving a trail of blood behind. Nanami let out a bloodcurdling scream as she was being cut by the blade; she could feel every inch of her flesh tearing as the blade made its way all over her body. Naruto got a good view of this, seeing as the moonlight shined directly on the stone table. His clenched his fists together and felt a massive surge of chakra running through him. After a few seconds, he started to hear the Kyuubi's voice again.

"**Kit! Good, you can hear me. Listen up and listen good, it's about the seal!"**

"_I know! It's wearing off; now lend me some of your chakra so I can finish this!"_ His voice had turned into a feral snarling by the near end of the sentence.

"**Kit, you don't understand. The seal is much more complicated than that! Listen!"**

"_I don't have time to listen! Every second I spend in here discussing this with you is a second that Nanami suffers! I'm not going to debate with you about this Kyuubi, so just give me your chakra already!" _Without awaiting the permission of Kyuubi, Naruto pulled out enough chakra to initiate the five-tailed cloak. The merging of the chakra was done hastily, so it still managed to damage the body of Naruto, causing his skin to peel off in certain places. Kurama cringed at the horrific transformation Naruto was undergoing. The boy unleashed an ear-splitting roar before aptly charging into the nearest enemy he could find. The Priest tried his best to dodge the attack, but the blonde haired demon was just too fast. Before another word could even be said, Naruto had run his fist through the man's chest. The others charged at the blonde boy, thinking that their numbers would overwhelm him; they could not have been more wrong. In one swift sweep of a tail, Naruto had beheaded the five Priests that had lunged at him. He pulled his hand out of the now lifeless body before him and pumped an insane amount of chakra into his palm. When the vermillion Rasengan finally took shape, Naruto heard a sharp cry of pain that immediately snapped him out of his frenzy and caused the ball of raw power to come undone. When he had turned to look, his entire body stiffened; the masked man had plunged yet another steel dagger into Nanami, this time into her right thigh. Just as Naruto saw this, he immediately felt all his strength dissipate; as if it had been sapped out of him by some unknown force. He dropped to one knee, never taking his eyes off the girl he had sworn to protect. Nanami lay there, screaming her lungs out; the pain was unbearable, any more of it and she would surely pass out, and oh how she wanted to pass out. Naruto raised his hand in an attempt to reach out to her, only to be met with a knee to his face. He could feel the cartilages in his nose breaking from the sheer force of the impact. Blood rushed down his face and up his throat as he struggled to regain his bearings. When he finally managed to get back on his feet, he took one more glance toward Nanami, who lay there, staring at him. A small smile appeared on her face.

"I… I'm fine N-Naru-chan…" she had managed to say before coughing a good amount of blood.

"N-Nanami-chan!" Without another word he ran towards her, not caring about the fact that blood was rushing up his throat; that he could barely breathe; that he was basically drowning in his own blood. When he had managed to get within 3 feet of her, a Priest grabbed hold of him while another approached him at full speed, and that's when he felt it. He felt the paralyzing sensation of cold steel pressing into his body; ripping through skin and flesh and running through his internal organs. He looked down only to see blood gushing out of his sides, while his stabber only chuckled at the boy's shock. The Priest twisted the knife, eliciting a satisfying yelp of pain from the boy, and ripped the blade out of the boy's body. Nanami's face paled even more at the sight she beheld; the boy she loved was going through so much suffering because of her, and she could do nothing but watch. Naruto fell to his knees, only to receive a kick to the side of his head. Tears fell down Nanami's face as she watched the boy get stomped on repeatedly. Her lips parted.

"N… N-Naru-chan!" she screamed his name at the top of her lungs, effectively catching the boy's attention, as well as the masked man's.

"Tsk. Such a loud, shrewd voice. Allow me to rid you of that." He let out a soft chuckle before grabbing another dagger. Naruto raised his head, just enough to get a glimpse of Nanami. He watched helplessly as the masked man pointed the dagger at her throat; Nanami's eyes were wide in fear and shock.

"N-No! P-p-p-please, Don- hurngh!"

The dagger came down. She shut her eyes in reaction to the extreme pain that caused her body to shudder. Blood gushed out of her mouth and tears ran down her face as she turned to Naruto with a slight smile on her face. She opened her mouth to speak; no sound followed but her lips mouthed the words knowing full well that Naruto would be able to read her lips.

"…It hurts… but I'm fine…"

Tears ran down the blonde's face and his body shivered in frustration; not because of what the masked man was doing and certainly not because of the pain he was in but because he didn't have the strength to _stop_ him. His body shuddered as he felt another knife dig into his left thigh. The masked man sighed to himself, obviously disappointed.

"Such a shame; I honestly thought you would have solved the riddle by now, boy. Well, I shall put you out of your misery and tell you exactly why you can't use your power."

The boy only looked up at him with rage in his eyes.

"Fear." He said with a maniacal smile under his mask. "Fear paralyzes the body and dulls the reflexes. The seal I put on you, however, makes it so that the same applies for your chakra. As long as you're afraid…" He paused, watching the boy for any reaction. When received none, he picked up one of the few daggers beside him. "You'll never be able to save her." without any hint of hesitation whatsoever, he plunged the dagger down on her left thigh, drawing more blood and almost filling the small canal at the bottom of the stone table. Nanami shuddered violently at the pain. Her eyes shut tight and her mouth opened to let out a silent scream. Not a second later though did she manage to steel herself; her face slowly changing from that of a tortured expression into a calm one. She wouldn't; she _couldn't_ show how much it hurt, not in front of Naruto. The pain she felt, no matter how excruciating, was nothing compared to the pain of watching him suffer. She turned her head once more to stare lovingly at the blonde; hoping to fool him with the play she put on. She didn't even need to mouth a single word; one smile was enough. She reached out for the boy, and in turn, Naruto reached out his hand while crawling his way to her. When the Priests detected movement from him, they quickly continued their beating; stomping on every wound, making sure to break every single bone in his body and to squeeze every ounce of blood from his veins. They only stopped their barbaric display of brutality when the masked man raised his hand.

"Let him crawl; I want to see the pathetic little worm squirm his way to his princess."

The Priests reluctantly backed away, not knowing why they hadn't been ordered to finish the boy off. Of course, none of them had the heart to question their faith in their master; their plan was coming into fruition, and they were confident that this little brat couldn't do anything to stop it now, not that he could do anything in the first place. Naruto crawled on his belly with one arm; confident that several ligaments in his knee were torn and that his arm was not only dislocated but also broken. When she was barely within an arm's reach, he stretched out his hand, as she did the same. A smile crossed her features as their fingertips made contact; barely brushing against the other's skin, but contact nonetheless. The blonde boy allowed a small sad smile to don his expression as well. Her lips parted once again.

"… Close your eyes…"

Naruto did as the girl asked and shut his eyes and for the slightest of moments, he felt her fingers twitch in his hands as his vision started to darken. Suddenly, he was swarmed by all sorts of images flying around him, and was disoriented by an intense light.

* * *

_ Naruto managed to regain his bearing only to find himself staring at the face of Nanami. He could hear the sound birds chirping in the background as he watched the girl run her fingers through her hair in a panicking fashion. When he heard the sound of a door closing, though, the girl immediately jumped up in surprise, grabbed a piece of cloth, and wiped it over something in front of her; what he saw was a reflection of her. As she rushed down two flights of stairs, Naruto felt his heartbeat getting faster and faster as he continued to see everything through her perspective. When she was about to reach the bottom of the steps though, she tripped on her own feet. Naruto felt a slight sting on his right cheek as her face made contact with the floor. When she managed to get up, he heard the somewhat familiar exchange of words._

"_Father? Is it true? Is there a hero in town?" _

"_Nanami? W-Well yes. I mean, h-he's right here…"_

_ Her gaze whipped around the room wildly for a few second, but then she caught sight of a shock of blonde hair. It took a while for Naruto to recognize the midget he was staring at, but when he realized it was none other than him, he cursed inwardly for calling himself a midget and started to wonder what he was feeling at the moment. His face started to heat up, his heart seemed to skip a beat, only to resume at twice, no, thrice the pace it was going before. His knees quivered underneath him and he felt the nagging urge to fiddle with his fingers as he tries not to fall back and faint._

* * *

The masked man stared at the lifeless form of the boy for a couple of seconds before averting his gaze back to his sacrifice. The look on her face clearly showed that she was indeed knocking on Death's door. His fingers instantly went to her neck, feeling for the slight and fading pulse. When he had found it, he let out a small sigh of relief before grabbing two daggers, one in each hand, and smiling wryly beneath his mask.

"It would seem that we have to hurry along with this little ritual of ours; our little princess is fading."

That being said, he raised two daggers high above his head, and plunged it down her right thigh and her uterus. Blood splattered everywhere as Nanami's back arched slightly; signaling the immense pain she was in. the Priests had begun chanting their hymns…

* * *

_ Naruto felt a crippling pain shoot through his entire body. His hands balled up tightly as his fingernails dug into his palm. When the pain had alleviated, he could still feel a sharp pain in his gut and in his right leg, but disregarded it for the meantime. Naruto looked back into the vision he had been watching earlier, only to find it cracked and now falling apart. When all the pieces had come undone, it was replaced by another memory that he was familiar with; a starry night down by the lakeside, fishing poles in hand. Naruto noticed, though, that there was something a little off about this memory; it was not as vivid as the one he had seen before. Everything seemed a bit… dim, and his eyes couldn't help but linger on that tiny crack he could see at the corner of his eye. He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard his own voice explaining in great detail what had happened to him in the past. As he heard everything, Naruto felt strange emotions welling up from inside him; he felt worry, fear, hate, sympathy, and love, all at the same time. It felt as if he was a completely different person, hearing this tragic story of a boy who had nothing but fought like he had everything, for the first time. His eyes were soon overcome by a burning sensation that Naruto was all too familiar with from his days as an orphan living in the streets of Konoha. Before he knew it, tears were now streaming down his face as his heart rate changed from normal to frantic. His hands began to quiver as he watched, with bittersweet nostalgia, the exchange that followed._

"_Aren't you afraid of me…? Aren't you afraid of what I am…? I'm a failure AND a demon…"_

"… _Naru-kun, I don't care about who or what you were before. What matters to me is who you are now. You're the nicest person I know and I…"_

_ Naruto turned around to return her embrace, but was taken aback by her words that soon followed._

"_I l-love you Naru-kun…"_

_ Tears were welling in the young boy's eyes. Never before had he heard such tender words, especially not from someone of the opposite sex. A smile flashed across the boy's face._

"_I love you too Nanami-chan."_

_ After a few more moments of silent embracing, Nanami broke away and looked straight into Naruto's eyes._

"_Listen to me Naru-chan, as long as I'm here, I won't ever let anybody treat you that way ever again. I promise."_

"_Thank you Nanami-chan. And I promise that as long as I'm here, I won't ever let anyone hurt you, believe it!"_

_ The last sentence ringed inside Naruto's head for a moment longer than it should have, causing the boy to bite his lower lip in an attempt to fight the pain and guilt that threatened to wash over his entire countenance._

* * *

The masked man began to chant silent prayers as the tips of his fingers soon began to glow red. The hymns that could be heard had gradually become louder, and louder, and louder; until they were no longer being chanted, but rather, shouted. The masked man's head shot up as if he were possessed by something.

"I awaken you…"

A few seconds passed, and suddenly, all the Priests looked as if they were being possessed; some had even dropped to the floor and started convulsing violently.

"I awaken you…"

The masked man repeated the sentence in silent whispers; his voice gaining a bit of a psychotic edge to it after every whisper.

"I AWAKEN YOU! DEGA, DEMON OF FEAR!"

His maniacal laugh and the cacophonous chanting could be heard all throughout the caverns. The faint red glow that came from the tips of his fingers soon transferred to the hilts of the daggers that were lodged into Nanami's body. When the hilts began to glow a malicious shade of crimson, Nanami's eyes widened in horror as her body convulsed wildly due to the pain.

* * *

_Much to his surprise, the crack he saw earlier on began to grow and eventually, the image that he had been watching shattered before him. Before Naruto could notice the array of memories that flew past him, his eyes widened in shock as his knees gave out from under him; the pain he now felt surging through every inch of his body was overwhelming. After a few seconds of trying desperately to regain his composure, Naruto decided to grit his teeth and bear it. He got up slowly, only to be surrounded by an array of memories; some of them would be memories of the girl staring at the blonde while he wasn't looking while some of them would be about those small but meaningful gestures that the blonde would unknowingly do; a hand held for a second too long, an embrace that was too tight to be called a friendly one, some heartwarming words here and there, all conspiring to do but one thing; to make her heart beat ridiculously fast. He was immediately snapped out of his trance when he heard the all too familiar words ring vividly and echo from all around him._

"_T-That's why I want to be with Naru-chan forever, so I can make him and Kyuu-chan happy! That way, the boy and the fox I care about will never have to feel lonely again!"_

_ His vision once again blurred as he felt his chest well up with sentiments and his eyes, with tears. All around him, the images and memories shattered and fell apart until finally, he was once again alone in the darkness. That is, until he heard a voice behind him._

"_Naru-chan! Behind you!" The voice spoke in a sweet and playful voice._

_ Before Naruto could even turn, he felt a pair of arms wrap around his body from behind him. Warmth immediately washed over his entire body, and he knew exactly who it was._

"_Ne, I thought you're never supposed to let anyone sneak up on you, Mister Ninja?"_

_ Naruto smiled at her comment; the way she had said it had been so tongue-in-cheek that it was almost impossible to not show the slightest hint of humor towards it. Without another word, he turned around and returned her embrace with just as much, if not more, passion. Of course, he couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed when she broke away slowly. She raised her head to get a good look at his expression; his eyes were bloodshot._

"_Naru-chan… you shouldn't be crying."_

"_And why is that?" He had asked, trying his best to hide even the slightest bit of sadness in his voice._

"_Ano, W-What you just saw… I-I mean… I-I s-showed you how y-you've always…" She stoped talking and breathing altogether for a short moment, and put a finger to her lip in a rather adorable thinking pose. When her face suddenly brightened up, she once again looked the blonde boy in the eyes, smiled, and boldly said "Naru-chan, that's what you always do to me. You make my heart beat faster."_

_ Without giving the blonde time to react, she planted a soft kiss on his right cheek before backing away, and pointing at the necklace she had made for him. She smiled at him and said._

"_Naru-chan, that's all you'll have left of me." Upon hearing this, the blonde's eyes widened in shock and fear, but before he could butt in, Nanami had silenced him with a glance saying that she wasn't finished. "Everything… Naru-chan, I'm leaving what little that's left of me to you." Her usual happy smile now turned into that of a sad, knowing one as she began to gaze away at a far off distance. Suddenly, her figure seemed to drift away, slowly but surely, farther and farther. The blonde jinchuuriki could only choke on his words at the moment, before he managed to reach out his hand._

"_Nanami-chan… no…"_

"_It's almost time…" She turned to face Naruto, and allowed the sweetest smile she could muster at the moment, to pass her features._

"_Nanami chan… No…!" Naruto watched as he was dragged farther and farther away from her. He could only yell her name repeatedly, in hopes that she would hear him and start to run, towards him, like he had been doing towards her. When she had finally disappeared from his sights, he felt all the pain, all the anger, and all the fear, slip away._

_ He felt perfectly empty._

* * *

Naruto opened his eyes slowly as he was dragged back into consciousness. He had hoped that it was all just a horrible, horrible nightmare; that he could still get up to find himself laying down on his futon; that he could steel descend the wooden staircase and find Nanami-chan and Tatsu-jiji right there by the dining table, waiting for him. Sadly, he wasn't. His wake up call had been the twitch that he felt in his hands. When he looked up to see what it was, he saw a bloody Nanami laid out on a stone table, her cold, frail hand in his as her fingers twitched slightly every few seconds or so. The blonde boy could still hear the ominous chanting in the background, but suddenly, they all stopped.

Silence; nothing but pure, deafening, silence.

A small smile appeared on Nanami's face, then, for the last time, her lips mouthed the words

"… Thank you…"

For a moment, the blonde could swear he could hear his heart breaking in his chest. The stone table that she had been impaled to, began to quake and, suddenly, split down the middle. Nanami's body was glowing red and it looked as if bits and pieces of her skin were being shed as they rose into the air and turned into miniature balls of red light. Naruto reached out his hand in a desperate attempt to touch her, but before he could do so, Nanami's body dematerialized into a mass of red energy. Tears threatened to stream down the blonde's face yet again as he let his arms and his head drop to the floor. He could hear the sound of silent laughter, before finally, someone spoke.

"I AWAKEN YOU DEGA, DEMON OF FEAR!"

The demon's paw sprang out of the stone tablet and swiped away all the Priests that were nearby. No sooner did its head pop out, to devour all that used to be, Nanami. All the while, Naruto just lay silent, on the floor, broken and bleeding; tears ran incessantly down his face.

* * *

The Kyuubi, much to his chagrin, could do nothing but watch as his host; the boy he had come to call his partner and perhaps even his friend, suffered such inhumane amount of pain. His body was trembling in rage, but he suppressed it, as he felt someone walking towards his prison. He immediately recognized the shock of blonde hair from afar, and suddenly, all his rage dissipated. The look on the boy's face was beyond words. He wasn't sad, or angry; rather, the best words to describe it would be…

Empty. He looked absolutely empty; a shell of the annoying blonde ball of sunshine that he used to be. When he reached Kyuubi's cage, he sat down and hugged his knees digging his face into them. There was a moment of silence, before one of them spoke.

"**Kit…"**

"_Is there something wrong with me, Kura-kun…?"_

"… **What do you mean?"**

"_It seems like everywhere I go… no matter who I'm with… I keep hurting people. I keep breaking my promises."_

Kyuuibi cringed at the blonde's words; it's been so long since he's heard such a dejected tone from the boy; the only other time he spoke in that manner was when he first wanted to give in to his sadness after being beat up by some older Konoha chunin.

"_I lost her, Kura-kun… But… Why am I like this? I'm supposed to feel sad; angry; lost; even hopeless. So…"_

He stopped mid-sentence to look Kyuubi straight in the eye.

"_Why can't I feel anything…? I… I want to, so, so much. I want to miss her… I want to cry for her… I want to feel the rage flowing through my veins… But I can't feel anything…" _

Kyuubi no Yoko was known to man as the most ferocious entity the modern-day shinobi world has ever seen. It was said to be able to level mountains and create tsunamis with one fell swoop of its might tail; but sitting here, right now, watching the boy that he had come to care for during the past year that they spent training and bonding together, he felt so _helpless._ He maneuvered one of his tails to slip through the bars of his cage, and wrapped it around the boy in a comforting manner. Yes, he was a demon, and yes he still hated most humans; but he had grown to develop a soft spot for the boy. He was young, but oftentimes he would show maturity far beyond his age. He was brash, but the boy had an incredibly strong sense of right and wrong, and he had the bravery to act on it. He had been so familiar with pain and suffering before, but still proved through his actions that his will was stronger than his negative emotions.

In more ways than one, Kurama saw the boy as his very own cub, and _no one_ hurts his own without tasting the wrath of the Kyuubi no Yoko.

"_**How dare that bastard harm my host and try to subdue my power?! I'll see him burned for this insolence."**_ He thought silently to himself, before he spoke to the boy.

"**Kit… I know it's hard, but we have to finish this… Let me help you."**

* * *

The blonde merely let his head hang before, slowly nodding to the fox's words. It hurt Kyuubi to see the boy in such a state, but he knew that they had something more important to attend to; they couldn't just let these fools live, and they couldn't allow this Dega demon-wannabe to walk away from all this either.

Out in the real world, the Priests were too busy worshipping the beast they had just summoned. Right in front of the masked man, stood a large, black wolf with a tail of pure malevolence and yin chakra whipping around wildly; its fangs were bared as its one vertical eye stared at the motionless blonde boy right in front of it.

"Dega… Master of Fear! My name is Koga, and I am your humble servant!" The masked man was about to add something else, but before he could proceed, he saw the blonde shift around on the floor, before finally getting up. The boy hung his head, allowing his thick locks of yellow to cover his eyes and cast an ominous shade on the rest of his countenance. For the shortest of moments, the boy looked so fragile; so weak and pathetic, but then, a flash of crimson and orange disoriented all those who were present. When the masked man regained his vision, there stood the boy, clad in a bright aura of crimson, orange, and gold. For a few minutes, the aura seemed faint and stable, but then, he exploded. Naruto's chakra started whipping around wildly like an open flame ready to consume anything and everything it came into contact with. The blonde boy could feel the power surging through him; he could feel his wound closing and his bones shifting back into place. His feral features also became more distinct; his whiskers started to become black marks and he could see faint symbols appearing on his hands. His shirt had been ripped apart by the raw power emanating from him, exposing the seal on his stomach. Behind him, were five full tails of pure chakra, thrashing around, ready to impale and cut down anything that was within range. The masked man couldn't believe what he saw; the seal should still be working; there was no way it would've broken, not unless he had gotten around his fear, which as he saw a while ago, wasn't a possibility; he had made sure to traumatize the boy. He watched as the boy slowly glanced around the room with a blank expression, and when their eyes made contact, an unbelievable amount of killing intent emanated from the boy. The feeling was so overwhelming that it made every inch of him quiver as he saw all the ways the boy could kill him, in his mind. He knew… He knew it very well…

Not even Dega could save him.

His knees gave out from under him at the sudden realization of his death. A number of thoughts raced around his head; he had no idea how it had come to this. All he wanted was for his research to come into fruition; the research that was funded by a mysterious employer who went by the alias H, as well as by another employer who went by the alias Saso. Had he known that it would all lead to his death, he would not have pursued any of it. He would have retired and lived in his old village. It seemed that it was too late to turn back now, though, and he'd be damned if he'd go out without a fight. With Fear evident in his eyes, he pointed at the blonde.

"D-Dega! S-S-S-Seize him!"

Without any hint of hesitation, the one-eyed wolf pounced at the boy. Naruto merely stayed still and stared at the wolf as it closed the gap between them. When the wolf was near enough, Naruto raised his left hand slowly, and backhanded the wolf right in the face, causing it to ragdoll to the left and hit the roof of the cavern rather violently, causing the earth above it to cave in and for the water in the lake to slowly flood into the chapel. The masked man gazed in fear at the boy's raw power.

"P-Priests of Dega! What are you waiting for?! Attack him!"

Albeit hesitant, none of the Priests were willing to disobey the man they swore their lives to. They surrounded the boy and pounced all at the same time. The sheer number of foes would have overwhelmed any human being, but in his current condition, Naruto was beyond the word "human". His five tails swiftly decapitated all those who dared to attack him from behind, as Naruto raised both his hands sideways.

"**Kutsume."**

Two crimson claws suddenly sprang out and grabbed the Priests that came at him from his flanks. Naruto didn't even wince in the slightest when he flexed his hands slightly and crushed the men, effectively separating their upper halves from their lower halves. As for the three remaining men that still dared to charge at Naruto in a full-frontal assault, he could only look at them with a totally blank expression. The blonde jinchuuriki ducked under the first man's left hook and dug the clawed fingers of his right hand into the small of the man's back. He quickly spun around his first assailant, hand still in the man's back, and turned to face his next attacker. Naruto suddenly tightened his right hand's grip, and pulled his it out of the first man's back with so much force that the man's spine, along with his decapitated head, was pulled out as well. Without wasting a single second, Naruto used the momentum of his pull and swung the detached head and vertebrate at the second man. His new-found weapon made contact with the man's head, knocking him down to the ground. The blonde boy refused to show mercy as he proceeded to stomp down on the man's sternum with so much force that it crushed the man's chest plate as well as his heart. When the third man was within Naruto's range, he stopped the oncoming punch with one hand and plunged the other into the man's gut. The man could only look down and stare in shock as the blonde boy pulled out his intestines with his bare hands. Naruto stared at it for a second, before he moved the man's fist; the hand that he had caught, near the man's wound. He slowly opened the fist, placed the intestines on the man's open hand, and walked away. For a few seconds, the Priest stared at his own innards in the palm of his hands, before aptly collapsing to the ground.

Naruto slowly walked towards the masked man, but before could take five steps towards him; Dega had once again lunged at the blonde boy. When the wolf got close enough, though, Naruto simply grabbed his attacker by the throat, shifted his right foot, and used his own momentum against him to throw him into the other side of the room. Dega let out a quiet whine when it's back made heavy contact with the wall, causing the roof on that side to cave in as well, and for more water to flood in, pouring heavily on the injured wolf. Naruto turned his gaze to his original prey, but then, he heard the all-too familiar voice. He stared at the spot where he threw the wolf for a short moment, and then something, or rather, someone emerged from the cascading water.

"N-Naru-chan… why w-would you hurt m-me l-like that…?"

It was Nanami; naked, bloody, and shivering. She stared at the blonde boy, observing his reaction to seeing her, that is, until he let his head hang once more.

"How dare you…"

When Naruto lifted his head to once again look the slender, lithe figure before him, a stray tear rolled down his right cheek as his expression remained blank.

"How dare you… She's… She's gone. I can't bring her back… So how _dare_ you spit in her image…"

Knowing that his illusions wouldn't work against the boy, Dega dropped the façade and reverted to his true form, only to be met with the sight of, what seemed to be, an orange spark. A loud bellow of pain echoed throughout the caverns, as Naruto plunged his right hand into the wolf's eye socket. He pulled the monstrous eye out of the demon wolf's head, causing said wolf to roll around on the floor in pain. The blonde boy stared at the eyeball for a short while, before aptly crushing it with his chakra claws. He slowly walked towards the wolf that was still writhing in pain, and lightly placed his foot on the demon beast's forelegs. He stared at the wolf's helplessness for a moment, before uttering out a few words.

"…Pathetic… Nanami-chan… she was sacrificed for you…"

Naruto's face was void of all emotion as he forced his foot down, eliciting a sharp cry of pain from the wolf and a satisfying crunch from the wolf's legs. In a sudden act of desperation and rage, Dega went for the boy's throat, only to have his jaws caught by the blonde demon's hands. The wolf could feel the force that was being applied on his jaw, and let out a loud whine of pain when Naruto forced his upper jaw upwards and his lower jaw downwards, effectively breaking it. Of course, the wolf thought that was it; it thought Naruto was finished, and much to his surprise, he couldn't have been any farther from the truth. Naruto pumped a massive amount of chakra in one of his chakra claws and, when it had taken form, rammed it down the demon beast's throat and into its gut. Dega could do nothing but convulse violently as the vermillion Rasengan grinded against his organs, ripping him apart from the inside, out.

Naruto didn't even glance at the wolf as he left it for dead and continued to walk towards his target. The masked man watched in horror as the blonde effortlessly destroyed their object of worship; their _god_. He could only let out a nervous chuckle, and speak.

"… heh… Heh heh heh heh… you… you _fascinate_ me to no end! How?! The seal should have kept your power in check!" The masked man didn't wait for a reply, as he picked up the dagger nearest to him and threw it at Naruto. Much to his dismay, the blonde once again disappeared in an orange spark, only to reappear a couple of meters behind him. When he heard the sound of a footstep coming from behind him, the masked man turned to look, only to find the blond, walking towards him, tears streaming down his face.

"Everything… You took _everything_ from me… Now... I'm not afraid…"

The masked man couldn't even react in time when, in yet another spark of orange, the blonde was now grabbing his right wrist. The world fell silent for a few moments, and all he heard, was but a few words.

"…I'm not afraid to die."

He felt a sudden pain in his gut as Naruto's kick connected, sending him flying back before hitting the ground and bouncing a few times. When he came to a stop, he felt incredibly weak and had noticed that his right sleeve had been torn off; for some reason, he couldn't feel his right arm. When he turned to look back at the blonde boy, his face paled as he now knew _exactly_ why. Naruto stood there, unfazed by the amount of blood that had splattered on his face and body; in his left hand, he held the masked man's right arm. He slowly approached the masked man once again, and upon seeing this, the masked man tried to squirm away in fear of his demise. Naruto disappeared once more, only to reappear on top of his prey. He mercilessly looked the man in the eye as he plunged his right hand into his prey's gut. Without averting his gaze, Naruto moved his right hand around inside the man's body, eliciting cries of pain from said man, until he found what he was looking for.

"Ah… I didn't know you had a spine…"

Naruto slowly took his hand out of the man's gut, much to Koga's relief, and dropped the arm he had been holding with his left hand. What happened next caused the masked man's eyes to widen in fear. Naruto used his chakra claws to form two Rasengans; one in each of his hands. When the spheres of devastation had formed, he slammed it down the man's legs, educing more cries of terror and pain. The masked man, also known as Koga, lay there, dying. His body had a fist-sized hole in the gut; he was lacking an arm and his legs were mangled and torn to shreds. He was about to pass out when, suddenly, Naruto reinserted his hand into the man's gut and squeezed his stomach, immediately awakening the man and causing his back to arch as pain shot through his entire body.

"… You don't get to pass out… That's too good for you… You're going to suffer; like you made _her_ suffer."

Deep inside Naruto's mindscape, Kurama cringed in horror as he watched the boy _slowly_ rip off the man's remaining arm and take the forearm's bone, leaving a twitching mass of muscle, skin, and nerve. Something inside the boy had snapped; this wasn't the Naruto he knew, but he also knew that he couldn't or rather, wouldn't stop the boy; not until he had done what he had to do.

He didn't want his cub to make the same mistake he did.

Naruto had just finished extracting the man's radius and ulna. He turned once again to look the man in the eyes.

"… Do you remember…? Do you remember what you did to her…?"

The man's eyes widened as it became clear to him what the boy planned to do. Naruto broke off the styloid process until the end was jagged. The masked man opened his mouth to speak.

"What…"

Naruto tilted his head slightly to the side, as if confused by the question.

"… Such a feeble, pathetic voice… Allow me to rid you of that…"

"N-No! P-p-p-please, Don- hurngh!"

Naruto plunged the bone deep into the man's throat, stood up, and walked away. He thought that killing the man would fix things; that doing so would bring him satisfaction. So why was it that he still felt so…

"…Empty."

It had begun to rain, hard. Naruto looked up to the sky as the raindrops masked the tears that were falling down his face.

* * *

Naruto awakened only to find himself in his mindscape, with Kyuubi worriedly looking at him from behind the bars of his cell. He slowly walked up to the fox, smiled sadly, and said.

"…_Kura-kun… I don't want this anymore. I don't think I want this life anymore. You're free to go."_

The boy reached up to remove the seal. In his own mind, Kyuubi thought to himself; this was it, he would finally be free. He could finally bring vengeance down on those who treated him _and_ the boy as monsters. Finally, he thought; finally.

Kyuubi smiled.

…But it wasn't a smile of eagerness. It wasn't a smile of happiness. It was a sad, sincere, knowing smile. He let one of his tail slip between the bars and once again wrap around the boy, just as he was about to touch the seal. He pulled the boy away from the seal, and looked him straight in the eye. Naruto was the first to speak.

"_Kura-kun… you don't understand me after all…"_

"**You're wrong, Kit. Right now, I understand you better than you understand yourself. This isn't you; this is the farthest thing from you."**

"_No… you don't understand. I lost her, Kura-kun… I lost everyone else, too. I…"_ Naruto let his head hang in an attempt to hide the tears that were coming.

"_I don't think I want to live in a world without her…"_

There was a silence between the two as Kurama carefully picked his words. When he knew what to say and how to say it, he spoke.

"…**You still have her."**

Naruto's head shot up as he heard Kyuubi's words.

"**She's still with you, Kit; with **_**us.**_** Right there."**

The tip of Kyuubi's tail pointed towards the necklace around the boy's neck.

"**She wanted you to be happy, Kit. That was her dream…"**

"… _What do you want me to do, Kura-kun…?"_ His expressionless mask now broke as he spoke with the slightest bit of ire in his voice.

"**Live. It's the only thing you **_**can**_** do. Live, to accomplish your dreams **_**and**_** her dreams. It's what she would have wanted, Kit, and you know it too. It'll hurt at first…"** Kyuubi's voice threatened to betray him as it broke a little bit. Naruto, of course, noticed it as well, but decided not to comment, as he was seeing a whole new side of his partner; he had a far off look on his face, as if he were recalling s painful old memory. **"The first few months will feel like hell… but then, you learn to live with it. Kit… This kind of wound… it's not something even my regenerating ability can heal. This wound will take time, but I know you love her and she loved you too… Trust me, you'll heal."**

Naruto was rendered speechless by everything he had just heard, until, he smiled sadly. He was disappointed in himself; disappointed that it had been so easy for him to give up, which was something the old him would never have done.

"_Thank you, Kura-kun… You're right." _he gripped the fox head pendant of his necklace, and smiled. _"You know… People are really wrong about you, Kura-kun. You may act tough all the time… but you're the nicest person I know, and I hope someday, I can make it up to you by getting rid of all that hate inside you."_

Kyuubi merely smiled at his partner's declaration and put him back down. The blonde boy's words had always managed to frazzle him to no end, but this latest declaration seemed to pluck his heartstrings and remind him of a certain red-haired woman that he once loved. He let out a slight sigh as he watched his host; his partner, his friend, and his cub, walk away. Somehow, the boy seemed to be more of a man now.

* * *

When Naruto returned to the real world, the water was already neck-high, and was still flooding in from the lake. He hurriedly swam to the hole he had made earlier and, using his chakra, propelled himself out of the bloody chapel. He threw one last glance at the underground chapel, before aptly walking away. When dawn came, Naruto had just finished burying the bodies and ashes of the villagers. He stopped to say a prayer to Old man Tatsu and Nanami's grave, before collapsing to the ground. The last thing he saw before he passed out was the dark grey clouds pouring their contents over the land. That morning, it seemed the sky too, was crying; crying for Nagarerunamida, the Village of the Flowing Tears.

In the thick forest, a figure had been watching the entire thing; from the ritual, to the massacre, and finally, until the boy he had been watching passed out on the ground. He slowly approached the unconscious Jinchuuriki, and smiled softly underneath the collar of his black cloak; a cloak that had red clouds printed on it. when the raven-haired man stood beside the boy's sleeping form, he bent down, slipped a ring on the boy's finger, and picked him up. He smiled at the boy, and spoke.

"Thank you, for saving my brother."

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

Here's the update. So sorry if it took a while; I finished it early but decided that I wanted to put more detail in the fight scenes.

Now, onto more pressing matters. I just want to thank Shawn2012, dayfox96, x-marks-the-spot1974, hmg, and Darkryus for the reviews. It really means a lot to me that you guys went through the trouble of expressing your thoughts, so thanks.

On a completely unrelated note, 2,000+ views. Wow. I really didn't think this many people would read my work. I thank you, Madams and Sirs. Good day.


	7. Chapter 6: Too Late for Tears

Chapter 6: Too Late for Tears

He ran as fast as he could; he knew the message he carried was important and he knew it was something that had to be delivered as soon as possible. When it had gotten too troublesome to maneuver around the people on the streets, he took to the rooftops and jumped from building to building as fast as he could. When he arrived at the main building, he dashed up the stairs, ignoring the familiar faces that said hello to him. When he reached his destination, he took a minute to steady himself for what might happen next. He knocked on the door, and when he heard the person on the other side bid him permission to enter, he did.

"Hokage-sama, I have an urgent message for you."

"Shikamaru? What is it?"

"I'm here to deliver an urgent message from Ame." Without another word, the lazy Nara handed over the scroll, obviously relieved to be free of such a troublesome responsibility. Tsunade opened and read the scroll, not bothering to dismiss the chunin in front of her, as she knew that if it was from Ame, it would be important. Her eyes widened when she read the contents, and as if the scroll was on fire, she dropped it onto the table and backed away from it. Tsuande couldn't believe what she just read; if what was written there was true then she had no choice. She looked back at the Nara boy who was now staring at her with curiosity evident in his eyes.

"Shikamaru, call the other members of the Konoha 11. Tell them to meet me in this office, immediately."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at the urgency and panic in her voice, but quickly dismissed it as he had orders to follow. He dashed out of the office and began his search for the others, mumbling something about always being dumped with troublesome responsibilities as he did so.

* * *

Ino was nonchalantly flipping through the pages of a magazine, patiently awaiting customers. It had been a long and rather slow day for the Yamanaka flower shop and honestly, she didn't expect business to pick up anytime soon. Needless to say, she was quite surprised when she heard the ringing of bells; signaling the entrance of a potential customer.

"Welcome to the Yamanaka- Oh, it's just you. What's up, Shika? Buying flowers for a girl?" The last sentence managed to get the Nara boy to raise an eyebrow in response.

"Yeah right; like I'll ever do anything that troublesome. I have a message from the Hokage."

"Really now? What is it about?"

"She told me to gather all the members of the Konoha 11, and meet her in her office, _immediately_. I actually need your help, since it'd be too troublesome to look for all of them by myself."

Ino huffed indignantly at his words.

"You always come to me when you're too lazy to do something. Why can't you just ask Chōji for help?"

"I have. I ran into him on the way here and he said he was going to go look for Team 8. I need you to go look for Team Gai."

Ino just sighed heavily, and closed the magazine she had been reading, and said.

"Fine, I'll just close up the shop. I'll see you there."

And with that, Shikamaru promptly turned on his heels and left the flower store. He took a second to look at the clouds high up above, and thought to himself.

"_You know, I wish I was just like you; floating around, with no troubles; no responsibilities. I just hope that whatever Hokage-sama has in store for us, it won't be too troublesome."_

The Nara boy let out a sigh, before lazily walking back to the Hokage Tower; inwardly smirking because he had just gotten his two teammates to do all the work for him. His walking, of course, soon turned into a full-on sprint when he heard the familiar shrill voice of his teammate screaming his name. He really wasn't expecting her to catch on so soon.

* * *

"… Do you still blame yourself…?"

"How could I not? You said so yourself; he was my best friend. He was like a brother to me; he _saved_ me from myself, and how do I repay him? I tried to sever our bond. I…"

It's been a little over a year since the incident, but the memory of what had happened was still vividly imprinted on the mind of the raven-haired boy who was standing in front of a statue on The Great Naruto Bridge.

"… I ran my hand through his chest. I _killed_ him; me, his brother."

"Sasuke-kun…"

The pink haired kunoichi had to fight back tears that threatened to fall as she listened to her teammate's words. Ever since their blonde ex-teammate brought Sasuke back to the Leaf, they had begun to grow closer and closer to each other in an attempt to ease the pain of losing their favorite dobe. When they were told that they had a mission in Wave, they decided that it would be best to stop by the memorial stone of their old friend; they thought they were ready for it, ready for the pain that would come from being reminded that you've lost someone; that no, you can't see them anymore and no, you can't tell them all of the things you've always wanted to tell them when they were still with you. Evidently, they were wrong. Sakura felt a surge of pain and guilt when she remembered how she had treated the boy; how she had used him for her own personal gain.

"_Naruto… If only I had known… if only I had known what saving Sasuke-kun would actually cost… If I had known that it would take your life to bring him back…"_

There were so many things she wished she could tell him; so many apologies that she owed the boy for all those times that she had hit him and blatantly rejected his affections without even thinking how much it hurt wished there was at least _one_ time that she had embraced him, instead of walking right past him and towards her Sasuke-kun. The idea that she had been so heartless towards the boy that loved her with all his heart left a bitter taste in her mouth, and, after a while of reminiscing, pushed her over the edge. Tears ran down her face as she stared at the monument of the boy, standing on a slab of rock with his arms crossed, and sporting his trademark foxy grin. When the pain became too much to bear, her knees buckled under her. Fortunately, she felt a strong arm grab her by the shoulders and support her; it was her sensei. Kakashi somberly looked at both his students and immediately sensed the amount pain they were in. His gaze shifted to the ground as he figured that while it probably wasn't the appropriate time for it, he had to relay the Hokage's message.

"Sakura, Sasuke, I was contacted recently by the Hokage herself. She wants the two of you, along with the rest of the Konoha 11, to meet her in her office as soon as possible. Since we're done with our mission here, I suggest you two pack your things; we leave immediately."

Sakura only gave her sensei a slow nod, signaling that she understood while Sasuke on the other hand remained motionless, with his back turned on them and still staring at his former teammate's memorial stone. The copy-nin frowned underneath his mask as he saw how much his students, no, his entire team including himself, was suffering. He watched as his pink-haired student slowly held the boy's hand and squeezed softly. When she failed to elicit a response, Kakashi turned on his heels and walked away, knowing full well that there was little to nothing he could do to alleviate the situation. After all, he was suffering too; he had lost his best friend before, and just when he saw him in Naruto, he lost the boy as well.

When Kakashi had left, Sakura once again squeezed the Uchiha's hands. Tears once again welled in her eyes when the boy squeezed back. A few moments passed, before the Uchiha decided to break the silence.

"… You go on ahead with sense, Sakura. I'll catch up. I think… I want to be alone for a while."

Sakura allowed a sad yet understanding smile to pass her features before she reluctantly released the boy's hands, and walked away, but not before shooting one last glance at the boy. When the Uchiha was sure that he was alone, he took out a scroll from his pocket and funneled chakra onto the seal written inside. When the puff of smoke had cleared, the Uchiha held a small bouquet of Lilies in his right hand. As he was about to place it on the boy's memorial plaque, something came over him; he could feel something slowly washing over him.

Guilt; pain, loneliness, regret, they all came down on him like a ton of bricks as he fell to his knees.

"_What the… What the hell is wrong with me?"_

His hands immediately went to his face and wiped away the tears that were falling. He couldn't believe it; he couldn't believe that he was actually crying. He was an Uchiha, right? They were supposed to be the symbol for ultimate power; it's what they took pride in. The Uchiha were strong! They were the best! They're never supposed to show any weakness…

… So what was he doing on his knees, with a pathetic and pitiful look on his face? What was he doing crying his eyes out? Maybe it was because he had been holding it in for far too long. Or maybe it was because the guilt was too much. It didn't really matter; either way, he couldn't change what had already happened and there was absolutely nothing else he could do to fix things. He was too late; twelve months too late. He wiped away the tears when he heard the soft thud of footsteps coming from behind him. When he felt a hand rest gently on his shoulder, he knew exactly who it was.

"… Have you ever had a brother, Kakashi-sensei…?"

Tears started to form around the corner of the Copy Ninja's eye. After a few seconds of reflecting, he allowed a small frown to pass underneath his mask.

"… Yeah… I… I have."

"Is he gone, too…?"

Kakashi tried his best to remain calm, not just because he didn't want to break the cool, composed teacher façade, but also because he knew he had to be strong; not just for himself, but also for his students, who were suffering just as much if not more. It took everything he had to not break down, but it still wasn't enough to keep a single stray tear from falling down his face.

"… Yeah."

Without another word, the raven-haired Uchiha placed the Lilies on the memorial plaque and stood up, head hanging.

"Kakashi-sensei… If this is what it feels like to lose a brother… then screw Itachi; he can do whatever the hell he wants…"

Kakashi closed his eyes, and said a short prayer to his deceased blonde student.

"_You did it, Naruto… You got rid of Sasuke's hate. You may not have gotten the respect and acknowledgement of the Village, but you got the respect and acknowledgement of your friends and your team. That's all that matters, right?"_

With that, Kakashi and Sasuke walked away, but not before bowing slightly to the memorial statue.

"Kakashi-sensei… what was your brother like?"

The Copy Ninja smiled underneath his mask as he remembered his goggles-wearing ex-teammate; his one and only brother.

"I'll tell you and Sakura all about him on the way home."

* * *

That evening, all the members of the Konoha 11 along with their jounin sensei gathered inside the Hokage's office; well, all but three people. Tsuande sighed heavily and rubbed her temples.

"Figures. Kakashi's late _again._"

The genins who didn't know Kakashi merely raised an eyebrow at the statement, while the rest of the jounin could only sigh as well. Tsunade was about to start the meeting without them and just inform them when they arrived, but she was cut off by a loud thud coming from behind her; it was none other than Team 7.

"We're… We're here…" The Copy Ninja said in between breaths. Of the three, Kakashi was the only one who was breathing heavily; the other two were practically panting on the floor. When Kakashi managed to catch his breath, he stood up straight and spoke.

"Team 7 reporting the success of the mission. The supplies were successfully delivered to the Wave. We did however enc-"

"Yeah, yeah, you can tell me what happened later. Right now, I have something to tell you all."

Having noticed the seriousness of the Hokage's tone, Kakashi gave a quick nod and dragged his two students to where the others were standing and turned to face the Hokage. The other sensei merely stared at Kakashi and his team in disbelief, before Asuma spoke.

"Did you just… run all the way here… from Wave?"

"Yeah."

"In just 3 hours…?"

"Yeah."

There was a lingering silence in the room, that is, before, someone decided to speak up.

"Yosh! The Flames of Youth burn ever so fervently within you Kakashi! You are truly a worthy rival! I hereby accept your challenge! I will run to Kumogakure and back to Konoha in under three hours! If I cannot do that, I shall travel to the Land of the Snow completely naked while carrying a boulder on my back!"

Almost all of the people in the room shuddered when Gai brought up the image of him naked in the snow, carrying a boulder on his shoulders. Kakashi, on the other hand, just yawned and turned to his old friend.

"Hmm? Did ya say something Gai?"

"Curse you and your hip ways!"

"Enough!"

Tsunade slammed her fist on her desk, effectively catching the attention of all those present in the room.

"I'll get right down to the point. I received an urgent message from Amegakure. It said that at early morning today, they felt a massive surge of chakra near their borders. In response to the event, they sent several squads of their ninja to investigate. An hour later, they received a message saying that the teams had engaged in combat with a man in a black coat with red clouds painted on it. Not much was said about the man, except that he had the 'blood red eyes of a demon.'"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed upon hearing the description; he knew who it was, he just wasn't going to react to it. After all, he had let go of that vendetta; he tried to follow the path that it would lead to, and look where that got him. After a few moments of silence, they all assumed that that was all Tsunade wanted to tell them. Kurenai then proceeded to ask the question that was bugging her.

"With all due respect, Hokage-sama, what does that have to do with us?"

Tsunade sighed; she was silent because she couldn't think of a way to tell them the news without getting their hopes up. After all, losing someone once was painful enough; but to be given the hope that that person might still be alive, and then find out that it was just a lie would just be inhumane. She eyed the Konoha 11 one by one, trying to gauge their dispositions and to predict their reactions to the news. Ever since the Uchiha boy was retrieved, Sakura's been behaving less and less like a fan girl. The blonde boy's death hit her hard; she started to take her training seriously, fully convinced that if she were to spend the rest of her days with the love of her life, she'd have to be stronger so she'd never have to lose anyone ever again, especially not the Uchiha. Sasuke, on the other hand, has been avoiding or rather ignoring it entirely. He was still as smug and cocky as he used to be; as if he had never left the Village in the first place. Honestly, Tsunade had half a mind to kill him, if it weren't for that one time she caught him in the training field staring at their old picture of Team 7. That night, she realized that Naruto's death affected him the most. He lost a teammate, his best friend, and his brother. What still irked her though was how that damned Uchiha pride of his kept him from admitting it to anyone; how he'd still act like he didn't blame himself for what happened and that no one else should. She figured it was all a ruse of his, but it didn't make it any less irritating.

Shikamaru would probably comment on how troublesome it would be to have to chase down a lead that could turn out to be false; it definitely wasn't the first time Konoha's been deceived by Ame. He'd probably say that it would be a drag to do so in that weather too; they would be going to a country where the rain almost never stops pouring for Kami's sake. Chōji on the other hand would jump at the slightest chance to retrieve his long lost friend; she was sure of it. Ino would probably tag along just to make sure that her two teammates would be safe; she saw what Sakura went through, and it was quite clear that Ino didn't want to go through that as well.

With regard to Team Gai, she was sure that they'd be onboard with it. Kurenai's team, on the other hand, was rather difficult to read. According to Kurenai's reports, the Inuzuka and the Hyuuga seemed to have formed some sort of relationship with one another, and apparently, this was the reason why their teamwork seemed to have increased the last few months. She didn't know how they would handle it; she knew that the Inuzuka missed his old friend, but at the same time openly resented the boy for putting Hinata through all that pain. And speaking of the Hinata, there was no telling how she would handle the news. Tsunade just hoped she wouldn't pass out; at least not in her office. She knew that Shino would approach the matter logically; it was just how the Aburame handled things. After a few moments of sighing, she decided to just say it as bluntly as she could.

"There was another message that was sent to Amegakure, a few minutes before they encountered the mystery man. According to Amegakure, it was covered in blood when they received it. It said only one thing: Kyuubi no Youko."

The four Jounin sensei noticeably stiffened when they heard what Tsunade just said; something that didn't go unnoticed by their students. After a short while, the silence was broken by a clearly confused Kiba.

"I don't get it Hokage-sama. Didn't the Yondaime Hokage kill the Kyuubi?"

"… No. Listen, what I'm about to tell you is an S-ranked secret. You must swear to never tell anyone else about this; this meeting _never_ happened, am I making myself clear?"

The entire Konoha 11 froze up, nervousness and anxiety evident in their posture, but nodded to signal that they understood.

"Good. The Yondaime Hokage was a great man; a powerful ninja too, but even he couldn't kill a bijuu. Tailed beasts are entities of pure chakra and raw power; they're technically un-killable. Even if one was defeated, they would just reappear after a short while somewhere else and continue to wreak havoc. In order to actually keep a bijuu's power in check, they have to be sealed into something; more often than not, into a Jinchuuriki."

Sasuke grunted while Sakura looked down to the ground; they already knew what she was going to say about the Jinchuuriki. Kiba, though, raised his hand and asked.

"What's a Jichuuriki?"

Sasuke grunted once again.

"I've been back for a year, yet your ignorance still amazes me mutt."

"What did you say asshole?!"

Kiba took a swipe at the smug Uchiha's face, only to miss and lose his balance. When he got on his feet, he, along with Akamaru, started growling at the boy. Surprisingly though, he immediately calmed down when the Hinata put her hands on his shoulders and looked apologetically at Sasuke.

"Ano, I'm sorry for how Kiba-kun is behaving, but please don't be so mean to him, because I really don't approve of it." She spoke with the slightest bit of vehement ire in her voice, even going so far as subtly activating her Byakugan to emphasize the threat hidden behind her words. The trademark smug Uchiha smirk donned on Sasuke's face as he looked the girl straight in the eye and activated his own Doujutsu.

"Hmph. So you finally grew a backbone eh?"

"Both of you back down, right _now._" The tone of Tsunade's voice was indicated that she was a hair away from sending someone flying out of the window. Deciding to be the 'bigger man', Sasuke backed away and stood beside his teammate once again. When Hinata and Kiba did the same, Tsunade continued.

"As some of you may know, a Jinchuuriki is a human host of a tailed beast; the containers that we seal the Bijuu into. That being said, Yondaime never killed the Kyuubi no Youko; he just sealed it into someone, and that person is his only son, Uzumaki Naruto."

The entire Konoha 11 was floored; Uzumaki Naruto, the dead last dobe, was the son of Namikaze Minato, the greatest ninja of Konoha? It was difficult to even imagine it yet at the same time, it was so obvious; the resemblance was uncanny and now that they think about it, the Yondaime was, according to what they learned from the academy, not the kind of man who would ask someone to do something he wouldn't do himself. It was only logical to think that he'd sacrifice his own son. Before they could even think of anything else, Tsunade coughed loudly and got their attention.

"But that isn't all. You see, when a Jinchuuriki dies while the Bijuu is still sealed, it takes a while for the bijuu to recover and return. It takes years. According to Amegakure though, the massive spike of chakra near their borders belonged to the Kyuubi no Youko. Before you say anything, no, I don't think this means the Kyuubi's been revived because if it was then a large fox would've been spotted and it wouldn't have hesitated to destroy Ame. I think there was someone controlling the power."

Tsunade's words managed to elicit shocked looks from everyone in the room, including the Uchiha. They all knew what she was implying, and by the looks of it, they all understood why this meeting was so urgent.

"Good, you understand. Just remember, there's only a _slight_ chance-"

"I'll go."

All eyes immediately turned to the source of the hasty reply; Nara Shikamaru. Even his teammates and his sensei were surprised by the sudden willingness to take on responsibility. When he noticed the attention he was getting, he frowned a bit, sighed, and said.

"There's nothing wrong with me wanting to go. I lead that mission to retrieve Sasuke. What happened to Naruto… it's my responsibility. There were so many things I could have done, but I let him go. He died because of a bad move on my part, so if there's even a slight chance of finding him, then I'll go."

His teammates and sensei couldn't help but smile at the boy's initiative and it didn't take long for the others to as well. Asuma placed his hand on the boy's shoulder, and spoke.

"Team 10 will take part in the search; although, I have a mission outside the Village, so only Ino, Shikamaru, and Chōji will go."

The three students turned to look at him like he had gone insane.

"Don't worry; it'll be good practice for you." The bearded ninja said as he lit another cigarette. Before anyone else could get a word in, Sasuke grabbed Sakura and Kakashi by the wrist and dragged them with him as he stepped forward.

"Team 7 will also take part of the search. I'll bring that dobe back; if it means I get to kick his ass again." The Uchiha smirked smugly at the prospect of kicking the blonde's ass once again. Inwardly, though, he was smiling at the idea of seeing his old friend again. After a few seconds of thought though, he realized that if the dobe was alive… then that meant _he_ won the fight at the Valley of the End. His eyes widened at the sudden realization, causing his grip to tighten and elicit a raised eyebrow from his sensei and a girly squeak from the pink haired blushing kunoichi beside him.

"Yosh! Then it is decided; the mighty Team Gai shall also partake in this youthful task of finding Naruto-san! If we cannot find him, I will run 10,000 laps around Konoha, and if I cannot do that, I will march with Gai-sensei to the land of snow and also take off my clothes an-"

"That's enough, Lee. Hokage-sama, please excuse my teammate. As team leader of Team Gai, I, Hyuuga Neji, concur with the decision of my enthusiastic teammate. You have my eyes."

Tsunade smiled at the willingness of her shinobi; she knew that Naruto meant a lot to them, even to the Uchiha, so it was no surprise for them to want to look for him even if there was only a small chance of finding him. She waited a few seconds for another voice to speak up, but when she heard none, her eyes turned to Kurenai and her team.

"… Team 8…?"

At this point, Kurenai scratched the back of her head and smiled sheepishly at the Hokage. She allowed a nervous chuckle to escape her throat before she spoke up.

"Ah, I actually have a… mission… yeah, a mission! W-With A-Asuma… Y-Yeah… So, it's not really my decision here, it's up to my team to decide whether or not they want to go."

Tsunade's face dropped to her desk as it became quite clear to her what the two would be doing on their "mission". She didn't press on the matter though; Asuma and Kurenai were two very capable ninja and she was confident that they would put the mission before… whatever it is that they planned on doing together or to each other. She raised her gaze back to the Team of the pensive Inuzuka, nervous Hyuuga, and indifferent Aburame. Hinata thought about her words for a few moments, before finally deciding to speak up.

"I-I don't think it would be a good idea…"

"We'll do it." All eyes were now on Shino, who still looked as devoid of emotion as ever.

"Our team will be crucial in tracking down Uzumaki-san. Isn't that right Kiba-san? Hinata-san?"

Kiba looked at his teammate nervously before turning to his love interest. He looked into her lavender eyes for a few seconds before taking her hand and nodding in reassurance. After a while, Hinata smiled as well, and turned to address her other teammate.

"Yes, Shino! We'll help find Naru-… Uzumaki-san. Isn't that right Kiba-kun, Akamaru?"

"Yes!"

Akamaru barked in approval and jumped onto Hinata, causing the Hyuuga to muffle an 'eep'. Kiba smiled at her cuteness and planted a soft kiss on her right cheek, effectively making the Hyuuga blush furiously. Sakura, on the other hand, couldn't stand the display of affection; she had nothing against public display of affection, in fact, she hoped one day to be able to do such things with her Sasuke-kun. She couldn't stand it because it was Hinata; the girl who had been so madly in love with her ex-teammate. She watched how she would stalk the boy; how she would stutter when he talked to her, freeze up when he noticed her, and even pass out when he touched her. She was head over heels in love with him for so long yet, her she was, after only a year of losing him, getting all fluffy with one of the boy's best friends. When things had escalated from pecking to embracing, she couldn't take it anymore.

"Really? You're doing this _now_?"

Sasuke picked up on his teammate's annoyance and decided to follow her lead; besides, the sooner he was out of that office, the sooner he could pack his things and train for his upcoming battle with his old friend.

"Oi, Kakashi-sensei, let's get out of here. I can't stand watching these two. Besides, I can feel my IQ plummeting just by being in the same room with the mutt."

Kiba growled at Sasuke, obviously fed up with the Uchiha's arrogance, but was soon calmed when Hinata squeezed his hands gently and glared at Team 7. Seeing the tension that was forming between the four, Kakashi looked over at Kurenai who was exchanging flirtatious and knowing glances with Asuma, and sighed. He stepped forward and addressed their Hokage, who at this point was chugging down her second bottle of sake.

"Hokage-sama, since our Team has already accepted the task, may we take our leave? I think my Team requires rest and time to pack, since I'm guessing that this will be a long trip."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at the man; she knew Kakashi to be perceptive, but she didn't expect him to get ahead of her. She grunted; not really wanting to deal with the whining that was soon to come.

"Damn, I was planning on telling you all right before you set out. This might turn out to be a long-term mission; by that, I mean if you don't find anything while you're out there, then you can come home immediately. But, if you do pick up on any leads, you will have to follow them. Now, I have faith that you will all stick to the mission, no matter how hard it gets. If Naruto…" she took a moment to quell the feelings that threatened to resurge as it was neither the time nor place for them to do so. "… If Naruto _is_ alive, then I would have imagine he'd do whatever it takes to get away since he has done so for about a year now and honestly, with the way this Village treated him, I wouldn't be surprised. Do you all understand?"

All the teams nodded in unison.

"All right, you may all take your leave."

Without another word, all of the Teams left, leaving only Tsunade and Shizune in the office. Tsunade took another large gulp of sake, before turning to her apprentice.

"… Do you think he's out there?"

Shizune smiled sadly at her mentor; Naruto was like a little brother to her. Losing him once was hard enough, but now; now that they were given the hope that he might still be alive, she didn't know if she, or anyone else for that matter, can take it if that hope was shattered. She didn't know if any of them could take losing him again, especially no her mentor.

"… I hope so."

"… I just _know_ the council is going to be on my ass for this." Tsunade sighed heavily before she continued. "Send a message to the entire council; this isn't something I can keep from them anyway."

Shizune nodded and left the room. When the message had been sent, she returned only to see Tsunade on her 4th bottle. She momentarily considered confiscating them, but then, decided to join her instead. Needless to say, they drank the night away.

* * *

"… You realize what this means, don't you?"

"Yes, I do. I have no idea how it happened, but they failed to report back today. I have a feeling that something has happened to them, and if the message we intercepted from Amegakure is true, then this might not be a coincidence."

The shadow-shrouded man scowled pensively upon hearing his associate's words, before allowing a smirk to pass his features.

"Such a shame, The Priests of Dala or whatever was our best source of information on The Akatsuki. Their experiments on this new method of blocking off a body's supply of chakra would have proven rather effective in battle too. So much wasted potential… Well, that's one less thing to fund. Wouldn't you think so, 'H'?"

"… Of course; oh and, by the way, our esteemed Hokage has called a meeting of the entire Council tomorrow. I assume it'll be about… _that_…?"

"You'd be correct to assume so. Now would be the perfect time to turn convince everyone that that _thing_ has the potential to become the greatest weapon in the entire shinobi world."

"Yes… well, I shall take my leave then."

With that, 'H' promptly turned on his heels and exited the dark room. When he had closed the door, he sighed to himself.

"_Kami have mercy on me… Naruto, I hope you forgive me for what I've done. Should you come back and destroy this Village, I wouldn't be surprised."_

* * *

Naruto awoke in the room of what seemed like a cabin. The daylight was shining in through the windows, illuminating every inch of the room and allowing the boy to see the extent of his injuries. There were numerous pink gashes on the boy's body; even with the Kyuubi's healing factor, it would still take time for large stab wounds to heal. When he saw his injuries, his mind drifted off to the events that conspired on _that_ night; the night when he lost her; the night when they said their first goodbye. He would've shed a few tears, but something stopped him before he could even start.

"**If you keep thinking about that, then you'll never be strong; don't blame yourself, because you know she doesn't blame you Kit. If you don't move on, you'll never be happy."**

A frown crossed the boy's features.

"… _How can I not blame myself? I couldn't protect her… not with my own strength. I relied too much on your power and when I couldn't access it I was weak and pathetic. It's my fault; I was too weak."_

"**Then get stronger; that's why you left right?"**

"_You should know that it's not that easy, Kura-kun. So far, all we've been training to do is how to meld our chakras efficiently. It's not like you can teach me Taijutsu or Ninjutsu, and it's not like I can find anyone skilled enough to teach me either."_

Kyuubi let out a small chuckle at the boy's cluelessness, before addressing the young boy.

"**Somehow, I don't think that'll be a problem. Right hand, Kit."**

Naruto's eyes followed his partner's directions, only to widen at the sight; on his right ring finger, was a ring with the kanji for "scarlet" on it. He racked his mind for the reason why the ring seemed so familiar, and when Naruto found it, his heart almost stopped.

"_Shit… Shit!"_

Naruto immediately got out of his bed and sprinted down the stairs. He almost tripped on his own feet when he was nearing the last step, but luckily his head found the railing and he managed to catch himself. When he noticed that the house was indeed empty, he ran to the exit and practically broke down the door, only to find a wide clearing and a cloaked man sitting on a tree stump in the middle of it.

"Oh, Naruto. I was going to check if you were still alive, but then I found this tree stump."

Fear was evident in the boy's eyes, but what the cloaked man failed to recognize was the rage building up and bubbling within the blonde Jinchuuriki. The wind started whipping around Naruto as he started gritting his teeth and clenched his fists. Slowly but surely, a smile flashed across the boy's face. Right in front of him was Itachi Uchiha; the most feared Sharingan user probably since Uchiha Madara himself. This was the man that murdered his entire clan. This was the man, whose very name struck fear into the hearts of thousands, including Naruto. Most importantly though, this was the man who was basically responsible to everything that his old friends went through; the man that tortured his own little brother and, by extension, pushed him to run away from Konoha in search of power. This man was responsible for all the pain Sasuke went through and some of the hardships that Naruto experienced; and there was no better time to get back at him. Without any word of warning, Naruto charged at Itachi who, being a little surprised at the boy's thoughtlessness reacted completely on instincts. He waited for the boy to get close enough, and then, he activated his Sharingan. Naruto suddenly felt his entire body go limp and soon enough, his consciousness shut down. The blonde boy fell forward, and as he was about to fall straight into Itachi's arms, Itachi sidestepped, all the while never taking his eyes off the boy. When he heard the soft thud of the boy's landing, he let out a long whistle.

"… Whoops. I think I overdid it."

* * *

Naruto awoke in the room of what seemed like a cabin. The daylight was shining in through the windows, illuminating every inch of the room and allowing the boy to see the extent of his injuries. As he got out of bed, he felt a strange sense of déjà vu, but paid no mind to it. He silently climbed down the stairs, analyzing each and every part of the seemingly familiar house, and as he put his right hand on the railing, his eyes widened at what he saw. He immediately rushed out of the house and ran into Itachi, who was now sitting beside an open fire.

"Oh, you're awake. Good."

Everything came rushing back to Naruto.

"Y-You! What time is it?!"

"… According to the sky… it's night time. Why?"

"Good, that means I wasn't asleep for very long. Now, what the hell are you doing here?!"

Naruto didn't wait for an answer. He thought about charging at Itachi, but thinking back to their previous encounter, he knew that wouldn't work. Instead, he formed a cross with his fingers and focused his chakra.

"**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"**

Ten clones appeared and surrounded Itachi. When they all attacked, the real Naruto jumped as high as he could and when he reached the apex of his ascent, created another clone to charge a Rasengan into his palm. The blonde boy watched as Itachi easily disposed of his clones; when the first one came at him, Itachi merely sidestepped the punch and chopped the clone on the back of the neck. When three others lunged at his back, he dispelled them with a quick but powerful spinning whip kick. As if acting on a premonition, Itachi raised his right hand and caught a clone's fist half a second later. Using the clone's own momentum against it, Itachi pivoted his left leg, dispelled the four other incoming clones with the clone he had caught, and threw said clone upwards a fraction of a second before Naruto yelled.

"**Rasenga- **What the fuck?!"

The ball of pure chakra made contact with the airborne Kage Bunshin, and the real Naruto fell flat on his face. When he got up, he mustered up the meanest glare he could, and directed it towards Itachi, who was covering his mouth in an attempt to stifle his laughter. When Itachi managed to compose himself, he smiled at the blonde boy who had tried to attack him, and said.

"That was good, Naruto-kun, but not great. By the way, it's Friday today."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the Uchiha's expression of familiarity.

"_Naruto-kun…? What the hell makes him think he can talk to me like that? And what's with the 'It's Friday today' crap?"_

Naruto would have continued his internal musings, but something stopped him rather abruptly. It was Friday today… he looked at the cloaked man once more, raised an eyebrow at him, and said.

"… Friday? You mean to tell me… Are you telling me… it's not Tuesday today…?"

"No, it's Friday. You have to learn how to listen Naruto-kun."

"If it's Friday today… Then are you telling me I was asleep for three whole days?!"

"Yes."

"Three days?!"

"Yes."

"I wasn't asleep, I was in a coma you… you… you butt!"

"… Butt…? Naruto, your choice of words is rather… uncouth."

"Shut up!"

The blonde boy engaged Itachi in an all out Taijutsu match. Naruto jumped and tried to land a flying roundhouse kick on Itachi's jaw, but the latter merely parried the blow and grabbed the back of Naruto's neck. Enraged by how easily Itachi managed to escape the attack, Naruto threw his left elbow upwards in an attempt to clip his opponent on the temple; an attempt that soon backfired when Itachi grabbed the elbow, twisted it into an armlock, pivoted his left foot to drag the boy to the side, tripped the boy's leg, and stopped Naruto's descent just as his face was a few inches away from the fire. Naruto could feel the heat of the flame stinging his face; it didn't help that his sweat was dropping on the fire, causing it to flare up even more. The enraged Jinchuuriki grit his teeth.

* * *

"_I could use your help here Kurama."_

"**Hmmm… no."**

"_What? I thought we were partners?!"_

"**We are. But you said so yourself; you rely too much on my power. Consider this a test of your mettle without it. Currently, I feel no malicious intent from the Uchiha. You should be safe."**

"_What the hell do you mean 'no malicious intent'?"_

Kyuubi sighed in annoyance at the boy's density; at times, he even thought that the bars of his cage were more intellectually capable than his host, and that vexed him to no end. It was something they would have to work on as well.

"**It means he's not going to kill you, shit-for-brains. That or he's just really good at hiding it."**

* * *

The entire interaction with his partner did nothing but piss Naruto off even more; what Kyuubi couldn't understand was that they were dealing with the Akatsuki; the very organization that was after him. Now was _not_ the time to be 'testing his mettle'. What Naruto wanted wasn't a good sparring partner; he wanted to kill Itachi Uchiha, right then and there. He wanted to gut the lying bastard, rip his head off, and leave it at the front door of Akatsuki so that they would know better than to fuck with Uzumaki Naruto. Sadly, without help from the Kyuubi, it was clear that what Naruto wanted was nothing more than a pipedream. Naruto searched his seemingly empty mind for a way to win, or at least get away from his opponent, and when he couldn't think of anything, he decided to just lash out at the man. He struggled to get loose of Itachi's grip, but to no avail. Realizing that he wouldn't budge, Naruto decided to take out his aggression through verbal means.

"What the fuck is wrong with you? Let me go! I'm going to rip those eyes of yours right out of their socket, you sick, genocidal ass!"

Itachi's eyes narrowed the slightest bit at the boy's words. When Itachi said nothing in response, he knew he sit something close to home.

"You sick fuck! No wonder Sasuke wants to kill you. You have no idea how much pain you've caused him! You're the worst brother anyone could ever have!"

The last sentence did it; Itachi's grip loosened for a couple of seconds, only to tighten up once again, eliciting a yelp of pain from the boy. Itachi turned the boy around and looked him in the eye; his face no longer had a single trace of softness to it as it had reverted to its old stern expression. Without saying a word, Itachi threw a sickening knee to the boy's solar plexus and threw Naruto a few feet away. When Naruto got back up, his breathing was ragged, his knees were quivering, and he had a terrified look on his face. He felt fear violently shake through his entire body when he saw Itachi slowly walking to where he stood with the same, cold, piercing look in his eyes. His mind was screaming at him to run; to turn around and run, never looking back for fear of being caught in those torturing eyes, but his body was frozen in place. He didn't know if it was because he was already in some sort of genjutsu or simply because after all this time, he was still afraid of Itachi. In a last-ditch effort, he threw a right hook aimed at Itachi's jaw, but it was all in vain. Itachi saw the feeble punch coming from a mile away and caught it with his right hand. He looked the terrified blonde straight in the eye, grabbed the boy's right wrist and gave it a firm shake.

"Strong; always be strong. "

Itachi gave the boy's wrist another firm shake, and slapped his knuckles with an open palm.

"Be strong, yet swift. Never squander your energy on wide or unsure attacks. Be precise and lethal."

Naruto looked Itachi dead in the eyes and, as if reacting automatically, he threw a left uppercut, which was still caught by Itachi. Naruto's eyes widened in shock as he noticed how his punch felt faster; his hands felt lighter, and it didn't take as much effort. He wanted to mutter something in amazement, but before he could do so, Itachi pulled on both his wrists, making it so that Naruto's arms were now crossed in front of him.

"Good. Focus."

Itachi suddenly pushed the boy away with surprising strength, and gestured for the boy to come at him. Naruto obliged, and threw a spinning back kick, once again surprising himself with the amount of power that was behind it. Unfortunately for the young blonde, Itachi sidestepped out of the kick's way and pushed the kicking leg upwards. Naruto was thrown off balance, but managed to steady himself enough to be able to throw yet another straight right, but this time, it was aimed at Itachi's gut. Naruto smiled when he felt his knuckles come into contact with something, but the smile immediately turned upside-down when he realized that Itachi had dodged the blow but used his coat to catch the attack. Itachi grabbed the boy's right wrist, brought it to Naruto's eye level, gave it yet another firm shake, and spoke.

"Don't just fight with this. If you let your impulses lead you, you'll die. If you attack with nothing more but brute strength in your advantage, you'll die. Brawn may make you stronger, but brains will let you live longer. So fight with this." Itachi tapped his index and middle finger on Naruto's temple, gesturing to the boy's mind. When Naruto nodded, Itachi once again pushed him away. This time though, there was no moment of reprieve as it was Itachi who charged in. Naruto ducked under the incoming right hook, grabbed the elbow and pushed it upward with his left hand, dispelling any force that was put behind the punch. Upon seeing the opening, Naruto launched his right hand upwards and caught Itachi by the neck. The Uchiha allowed a ghost of a smirk to pass his features, before once again speaking.

"Now you see how easy it is to fight against an opponent who isn't thinking."

Without even finishing the lecture that Naruto was expecting, Itachi raised his left hand and turned his body to the right. When Naruto's choke grip was loosened by the sudden turn, Itachi brought his elbow down on Naruto's forearm, breaking the choke grip entirely. Itachi then grabbed Naruto's right wrist with his right hand, slid his left hand to the side of Naruto's face, and moved his right foot back, catching the boy in a standing wristlock.

"But one step is _never_ enough. Always; _always_, stay ten steps ahead of your opponent. Don't just charge in like you have diarrhea and your opponents are blocking the path to the bathroom."

Itachi then released the wristlock and pushed Naruto away, never taking his eyes off the boy all the while. He narrowed his eyes when the boy got into stance and started focusing; as if the boy was analyzing him. After a few minutes of silence, Naruto disappeared only to reappear in Itachi's right flank. The blonde boy threw a roundhouse kick aimed at the back of Itachi's head, but unfortunately for him, Itachi ducked under it and countered with an attempt to sweep Naruto's leg. Surprisingly, Naruto saw it coming; he had imagined the fight during their moment of silence and it was actually panning out the way he expected it to. He jumped upwards, placed his left hand on Itachi's back, and vaulted over him with ease. When he landed on his feet, Naruto raised his left hand to shield the right side of his face, as if he was expecting something to hit the area. A fraction of a second later, Itachi threw a left chop at the boy's neck, only to have his blow caught. Naruto saw the faint look of surprise flash across Itachi's face for a split-second, and noticed that his opponent's left side was vulnerable. Without any hesitation, Naruto rammed his right shoulder into Itachi's ribs, forcing the man to stagger a few paces backwards. A slight smirk appeared on Itachi's face as he raised his eyebrows at the boy's quick pace of learning.

"Again."

Itachi started his assault with a roundhouse kick that Naruto aptly weaved under the attack, launching a barrage of his own. Itachi managed to block each kick and parry each punch with the utmost ease, and when the boy started to show signs of fatigue, he took advantage of it by ducking under the last punch and retaliating with a chop aimed at the boy's gut. The attack landed flush as the blonde Jinchuuriki got the wind knocked out of him, causing him to stagger backwards and wince at the pain. Itachi saw the opening and continued his assault, attacking with a clear intent to cripple or kill. Naruto barely managed to defend himself as the impact of the attacks he blocked started to numb his arms. When he realized that his arms wouldn't be able to hold out any more, he switched from blocking to parrying, which didn't do much good since he could barely keep up with Itachi's speed. The blows were grazing Naruto, causing him to retreat and further encourage Itachi's advance. Finally, an elbow landed cleanly on Naruto's temple, causing him to stumble forward and almost lose his footing. Itachi at once thought that the boy would not be able to get up after the last hit; he had been putting about 20% percent of his strength behind each blow and he knew that even with the Kyuubi's regeneration, Naruto would still feel the brunt of the damage. He let his guard down for a fraction of a second, but that's when he saw it; he wasn't sure what it was, but there was something on the boy's face that bothered him. It looked almost like… a smile.

Naruto used every ounce of leg power he had left and jumped to deliver a fatal roundhouse kick aimed at Itachi's smug little face. He had hoped that it would end there, but there was also a part of him that knew it wouldn't; a part that told him exactly what to anticipate. Even with the might of the Sharingan, Itaachi barely saw the kick coming and managed to block it with both hands. Much to his surprise though, a clone soon appeared beside him, grabbed Naruto's right arm, swung the boy 360 degrees and slingshot the incoming kick at an astounding speed. Naruto's foot made contact with the Uchiha's face before causing it to break apart into a dozen of crows. Tired and battered, Naruto heard the faint sound of clapping from behind him. When he turned to look, he saw a smiling Itachi sitting on the tree stump by the open fire. Itachi suddenly stood up.

"Again!"

And so they fought again and again. After a dozen rounds or so, Naruto was lying beside the open fire, breathing raggedly with bruises all over his body, and smiling. Itachi was standing beside the fatigued form of the boy, breathing somewhat heavily himself; he knew his Taijutsu was one of the best, but the sheer amount of the boy's stamina amazed him to no end. What surprised him even more was how quickly the boy picked up on what he was trying to teach; after only a few rounds, Naruto already managed to land three consecutive hits on Itachi; solid hits too, not just grazes. Itachi smiled down at the boy, sat beside him, and spoke.

"… Thank you, Naruto-kun. Thank you for saving my brother. I know you didn't do it for me, but thasnk you nonetheless"

Naruto's body froze; it seems his entire day was full of surprises. Despite his body's protests, he sat up, and looked the man in the eye with a weak glare.

"Why would you care? Everyone knows what you did to your own clan and to Sasuke-teme. Why would you care if I saved him from becoming the snake's boy-toy?"

Itachi couldn't help but laugh at the boy's attitude towards his little brother; it was clear that the two shared a bond. It was the same bond that Itachi used to have with Sasuke, and the same bond that he wished to rebuild someday; the bond of brotherhood. Naruto, on the other hand, merely raised an eyebrow at the cloaked man's strange behavior; he never imagined the menacing Itachi Uchiha to be capable, well, happiness. When Itachi had finished laughing, he turned to address the boy's question.

"Everything always has more than one side to it, Naruto-kun. It's not just black and white; there are multiple shades of grey. I know what you know, and I also know that there's another side to it. I could explain, but I'm afraid it'd take too long."

Naruto frowned at the man's secrecy. He turned his gaze to the fire and, after a few minutes of silence, spoke.

"I've got time."

Itachi raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"I've got time. I've got nothing _but_ time. Besides, I'll need to keep myself preoccupied since I'm your prisoner now."

"…Prisoner…?"

"… You _are_ going to take me to Akatsuki, aren't you?"

"What gave you that idea?"

Naruto was absolutely baffled. Itachi Uchiha was the Akatsuki member tasked with the capturing of the Kyuubi no Youko. Yet, here he was, right in front of Naruto, and he was practically saying he had no interest in carrying out his task.

"What the hell are you talking about? You're an Akatsuki member! You're supposed to loyally fulfill your task!"

Now it was Itachi who was staring at the boy in confusion. After a few moments of awkward silence, he smiled at the boy and ruffled his hair.

"It's not that simple Naruto-kun."

"…Why?"

Naruto was standing now; he couldn't help but feel as if Itachi was toying with him. When he saw the slight frown that donned over Itachi's countenance for a few seconds before the man smiled at him once again, he calmed himself down and decided to hear him out.

"Naruto, you said you had time, didn't you? Sit down; I'm going to tell you a story, but only if you promise me one thing; don't hate the Leaf."

The blonde boy nodded, and Itachi proceeded to recount his entire story to the boy, including the goals of Akatsuki. It was his first time talking about it with anybody, so it came as no surprise when he would stop at certain points and don a look of disconnection. When he had finished, Naruto's mouth was agape. He opened his mouth to speak, remembering to choose his words wisely.

"… I'm sorry about what I said earlier… I-I… I didn't know…"

Itachi snapped out of his disconnected trance and threw a smile at the boy.

"It's okay Naruto-kun. I don't blame you for feeling that way, considering how much you cared about my brother."

"What? I do _not_ care about that teme!"

"**You say that now, but didn't the two of you lock lips before?"**

"_Eeeew! Shut up you gross furball!" _

Naruto could barely hear his own thoughts behind the demon's hysterical laughter. When Kyuubi decided that it was once again nap time, Naruto turned back to Itachi.

"… You really love Konoha, don't you?"

"Hai."

"To think you did all that for Konoha…"

"Your'e wrong."

Naruto tilted his head to the side in confusion.

"I didn't do it for a Hidden Village. I'm not that benevolent." He let out a slight chuckle before continuing. "I did it for my little brother. I did what I had to in order to protect the only family I have left. But still, I can't say there wasn't a part of me that didn't want to save Konoha; to be a hero of Konoha. Isn't that what you wanted as well, once upon a time?"

"Hero? The people of Konoha see you as the complete opposite; you joined the Akatsuki and you even infiltrated Konoha once. I hate to break it to you, but they don't see you as a hero over there. And yes, it _was_ what I wanted…" Naruto fiddled with his necklace before continuing. "…A long time ago; when I didn't know about the things that were so much more important than a Village that treats it's heroes like trash."

Itachi frowned at the boy's response; somehow, it felt like the Naruto he was speaking to right now wasn't the same boy as before. It seemed as if something was eating away at him, slowly chipping away at his soul. He seemed a bit darker than before.

"… Do you resent them? Do you not love your Village anymore?"

"… I don't know. That's not it, I think… don't get me wrong. I _love_ the Hidden Leaf, or at least the _idea_ of it. I just…I don't know if it's worth fighting for anymore."

"… Then fight for something else."

Naruto eyed the man with curiosity. He thought Itachi was being sarcastic, but the look on his face indicated that he was absolutely serious. After a few seconds, Itachi grabbed something that was inside the hollow stump he had been sitting in and tossed it to the boy; it was a simple pair of black shinobi pants, a fishnet shirt, a black long coat with white fur around the collar, and a Kitsune mask. Naruto's eyes widened in joy; he had always wanted a Kitsune mask, but when he had tried to buy one from a shop in Konoha, the man literally kicked him out and threw small pots at his head. He was about to try them on, when he suddenly realized that something had to be up.

"… What is this for?"

"Remember what I told you about the true purpose of Akatsuki's hunt for the Tailed Beasts?"

"Yeah, and don't worry, I already have a plan for that."

Itachi chuckled to himself and smirked at the boy; he could _not_ wait to hear what the little blockhead had in mind.

"Do tell."

"I'm going to gather all the Jinchuuriki and we're going to fight against you guys."

Naruto's confident tone caused Itachi to giggle uncontrollably into his hand. When he stopped, he looked at the boy and smiled.

"You've got the right idea, but you're looking at it the wrong way. Listen, I'm on your side Naruto. You've convinced me with how you managed to turn my little brother away from Orochimaru. You have true strength and a special skill; you always manage to steer people away from the darkness. Maybe it's your resolve, or maybe it's just your stubbornness, but you have the ability to get people to see things your way. So for now, I want you to do two things for me."

Naruto's jaw practically hit the ground. Itachi Uchiha; his once sworn enemy, was now acknowledging him? It all seemed too good to be true. Despite his confusion, he managed to snap himself out of the little daze he was in and nod; signaling that he was willing to do what Itachi asked if it was for the common good.

"…Okay. First, I want you make a name for yourself; I already have an idea how, but we'll get to that later. Second, I want you to find a way to get yourself into the Bingo Books, specifically, as an S-classed criminal. Tell me though; do you by any chance already have a summoning contract?"

"Yeah, I summon Toads."

"**Actually Kit… about that… yeah, you can't summon jack shit. Not anymore, anyway…"**

Naruto's eyes widened in complete and utter shock.

"_What the hell did you do…?"_

"**Well, I cut off your contract with the Toads since those slimy freaks wouldn't have hesitated to lead the pervert straight to you."**

Although Naruto wanted to be upset, he found himself agreeing with the Kyuubi's logic. He couldn't afford to be found, especially not now; not when he was about to undertake a mission that would, unbeknownst to him, change the course of the entire shinobi world. Whilst scratching the back of his head, he shot Itachi a sheepish smile, and spoke.

"Eh, scratch that. I don't have one anymore."

"Well, that's good."

"How is that good?"

Itachi smiled at the boy.

"You'll see."

"Wait, if you're going to be that secretive, at least tell me one thing; why do I have to do those two things?"

Itachi stood up slowly, and began to walk away, waving his hands to gesture for the boy to follow. When he heard the familiar heavy footsteps trailing behind him, he smiled to no one in particular, and addressed the boy's question.

"Because you're going to be joining the Akatsuki."

Naruto froze in place; obviously clueless of what the raven haired man in front of him was planning. When Itachi noticed Naruto suddenly stop, he turned around, looked at the boy with a raised eyebrow, and wore the traditional Uchiha smirk.

"Why would I want to join the Akatsuki?"

"… Because sometimes, bad guys make the best good guys."

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

And here it is. Just want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been reading this; you all don't know how much it means to me... It means nothing. I'm kidding. It means a LOT.

Anyway, time to reply to all those kindhearted reviewers who took the time to post their thoughts.

hridiago - There's actually a reason why he didn't do anything. One, he's Itachi. He does whatever the hell he wants. I don't want to go into the details of the second reason since it will definitely spoil the story, but let's just say it wasn't his place to interfere. Trust me, it'll be explained later on. I hope that answers your question. It probably doesn't, huh?

Marutectz552 - Thank you, good sir, for your kind words. I try my best to be as detailed as possible when I'm describing fight scenes; especially when they're bloody. For some reason, it just doesn't feel right unless the scene makes you feel like you're right there, witnessing it with your own eyes while at the same time trying to keep your breakfast/lunch/dinner down. With regard to your comment on Konoha's reaction, they will definitely pull something. But will they be the only one...? Who knows~ Apparently you do, you little psychic you. Their reactions will be shown... a bit later on. I think you'll like it, or at least I hope you guys do.

Ping-Pong - Wow. Just... wow. Thank you. I've only been on FF for a short while, and it's an honor for you to recognize my work as a 'rare gem'. You sir, honor me. I hope you like where I'm planning to go with the story.

Dragonskyt - Thank you for taking the time to post your opinion. I really appreciate it. I also hope you continue to read this story, since it's for people like you that I write in the first place.

Cobra0000 - I have quite the surprise for you! Naruto's character really is taking on a life of it's own now. I originally wanted to paint a picture of a Naruto that isn't all sunshine and rainbows; a Naruto that understands pain and suffering but doesn't brood and go on a depressed killing rampage. He'll be a bit more... human, in my story. Spiteful, vindictive, and ruthless when he has to be, but at the same time, he remains the caring, compassionate, idealistic, and sometimes naive, blonde that we all love. Anyway, I hope you'll like what i'll do with it.

Well, now that that's over with, I want to say thank you. Yes, YOU. And if I may say so myself, you look extremely dashing/beautiful whilst reading my story. You should do it more often, you sexy beast.

-IIVII17 


	8. Chapter 7: My Name

Chapter 7: My Name

"Focus Naruto. You can't afford to slip for even one second. You know what'll happen if you do."

"I know, I know; it's just that it's so hard!" The boy said with an exasperated sigh.

"Well with your massive chakra reserves, I'd be surprised if it wasn't. Nevertheless, this is still something you have to learn how to do. Remember, in Akatsuki, there's a member that's extremely good at tracking and sensing other people's chakra. If you don't learn how to suppress the presence of the Kyuubi's chakra in your system, then all this would be for naught."

"Well it's not that easy! I barely have any control over my own chakra. It doesn't help that I haven't fully controlled the furball's power either."

The blonde boy was obviously exhausted; he was never any good at regulating and controlling his chakra, so it came as no surprise to either of them that suppression was next to impossible for the boy. The two had been travelling north for about three days, stopping regularly at open spaces and riversides so that Itachi could further sharpen the boy's Taijutsu as well as teach him the basics of chakra control. He even went out of his way to try to get the boy interested in Genjutsu, but Naruto merely shrugged it off saying something about not having a talent for it; something that Itachi frowned upon. Despite the boy's lack of interest in the wonders of Genjutsu though, he was showing an astounding amount of progress in Taijutsu during his past three days of training. Naruto was now able to keep up with Itachi at 80%; granted the spars would always either end in a stalemate or with Naruto on the ground, it was nonetheless an improvement. After a few more hours of chakra suppression training, Naruto collapsed on the earth beneath him and glanced at his mentor.

"I really don't think I'm getting the hang of this."

"Nonsense; your progress is ridiculously slow, but it's still progress. You just need to work on it more, that's all. Although, I don't think you'll have much time for that. We're near our destination."

Naruto begrudgingly sat up and eyed his mentor with the utmost curiosity. All this time, he didn't think they had a specific destination. He had thought that they were just wandering the Elemental Nations for training, but apparently, there was an ulterior motive in their travel to the North. When Itachi noticed the look he was getting from the boy, he stood up and walked away, waving his hand as a gesture for the boy to follow. After a few minutes of walking through the thick shrubbery of the forest, they came upon a cliff overlooking a small valley. In the middle of that said valley, was a large monastery that looked as if it housed well over a hundred people. Upon closer inspection though, its inhabitants weren't priests or monks; they were ninjas. He immediately turned to Itachi, half-expecting an explanation. Itachi turned to meet his gaze, and answered the unsaid question.

"Right now, we're at the border of Taki no Kuni and Tsuchi no Kuni. What you're looking at is merely a facility built to hide one of Iwagakure and Takigakure's greatest secret."

"… Which is…?"

"Well, you see… During the Third Great Shinobi War, Iwagakure suffered greatly at the hands of Konoha and their Yellow Flash. I'm assuming you already know about this?"

Naruto allowed a proud smile to appear on his face before he spoke.

"Of course! It's because of the battle wherein the Yondaime Hokage earned the nickname 'Yellow Flash'. That still doesn't explain what we're doing here though."

"Oh it will. As you can imagine, Iwa wasn't too happy about that. So in an attempt to get back at Konoha, they secretly stole what could be considered the Village's most valuable possession. They then collaborated with Takigakure and built this monastery. Originally, they had planned to share the power that they would attain from what they stole, but after so many years of trying, it seems they… _failed_ to unlock the secrets of the items." Itachi smirked a bit at the last sentence. Naruto, upon noticing the smirk on Itachi's face, narrowed his eyes in suspicion; something about this didn't seem right in the sense that he _knew_ Itachi was keeping something from him. On the other hand, Itachi was always keeping something from him. Of course, even after just three days with the man, Naruto already knew that trying to pry information out of him would lead you nowhere; worst case scenario, he'll cast a Genjutsu on you that will not only mentally rape you but also violate every aspect of your being. After a few seconds of silence, Itachi turned to Naruto and smiled.

"I don't think you'll have that problem though. I want you to steal those items. But be careful… I sense two powerful chakra signatures nearby. If my guess is correct, then they must belong to two the Jinchuuriki that offered their selves to the Akatsuki before."

Naruto's eyes widened at the seemingly impossible request and at the idea of two people who were probably like him; two people who probably suffered like he did, giving up on everything and submitting to Akatsuki. He waved the thought off for now; it was something he would deal with when he needed to deal with it. What bothered him the most would be the difficult task of getting in, stealing it, and getting out without triggering any alarm. The monastery was filled with over two hundred Iwa ninjas and nearly three hundred Taki ninjas. The boy wasn't sure if he had the necessary skills required to infiltrate such a heavily guarded fortress. Itachi, having spotted the look of worry on his apprentice's face, patted the boy on the back, and spoke.

"I'll be waiting right here. Now, go and make a name for yourself."

Although he still felt a tad bit nervous, Naruto smiled at his mentor's reassuring words. He put on Kitsune mask that was given to him, and performed a Leap of Faith off the cliff's edge. When he was nearing the ground, he somersaulted, funneled chakra to his feet, planted them on the face of the cliff, and pushed off with all his might, sending him flying past the trees and straight towards the fortress. When he was near enough, Naruto summoned a clone and formed a ball of pure power in his hands. Just as he was about to hit the wall, he shoved his palms forward, causing the Rasengan to make contact with the concrete and blow open a hole through the wall. The Iwa and Taki ninjas were caught completely off guard; as far as they were concerned, no sick bastard would ever dare to attack a monastery, especially not one being guarded by nearly 500 ninjas. They all gathered around the area that had been breached; a good number of the ninjas present were only genins and chunins, so it was to be expected when they all shuddered at the sight they beheld when the smoke cleared. Naruto was standing on the pile of rubble playing with a coin on his right hand, spamming an insane amount of killing intent. Most of the genins immediately backed away and the chunins were too paralyzed by fear to do anything. The jounins on the other hand were wary of the intruder as well, but were not stupid enough to make the first move. They didn't know how powerful the masked man was; but something was telling them that they were about to find out. Naruto, seeing the looks of fear he was eliciting, decided to 'play with his food' for a while. He made a motion to strike, and when most of the ninjas made a motion to flee, he laughed as hard as he could, clutching his stomach.

"Ahahaha- Oh Kami! Ahahahah You- You- bunch of hahaha- sissies!"

If there was something that Itachi should have told Naruto, it was that Iwa ninjas did _not_ like being called sissies. In just a matter of seconds, a hail of shuriken and kunai were sent flying towards Naruto, who merely smiled at the feeble attempt at his life.

"_You ready for this Kura-kun?"_

"**You kidding me Kit? Let's show these sissies how a real ninja fights. I need some exercise anyway."**

Before any of the thrown weapons could make contact, their target disappeared only to reappear on the roof of one of the shrines, still toying with the coin in his hands. Naruto could sense looks of shock and fear directed towards him. When he looked back at his attackers, he smiled, and finally spoke.

"Alright. Let it be known that _you_ guys threw the first punch; or… kunai and shuriken. Anyway, as much as I'd like to sit and play with you kiddies, I'm in a hurry, so if you could just give me the things you stole from Konoha, that'd be grand."

One of the jounins eyes widened; that knowledge was supposed to be an S-ranked secret. Yet here stood this complete stranger in a black long coat with a collar of white feathers and a Kitsune mask, openly asking for the scrolls that they had stolen. He gritted his teeth in anger; the fact that he wanted them indicated that there was a chance that he was a ninja from Konoha, albeit a small one since he had no forehead protector. He walked up to the boy and stopped when he was a few meters away.

"Heh. So you're a ninja from Konoha eh? Well I don't know what you're talking about. This is a monastery."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the outright lie he had heard. Ideally, he wanted to just get in, get them, and get out, but it was obvious that it wasn't going to be that easy. Then, in that moment, he remembered something his mentor told him.

"_Go and make a name for yourself."_

Perhaps it was the boy's curiosity that got the better of him. He wanted so bad to find out just how strong he had gotten. Or perhaps it was just his inner drama queen begging for a dose of theatrics that caused him to formulate the plan he had formulated.

"Cut the bullshit sissy. I'm not a ninja from Konoha, but since you're quite adamant about keeping it hidden, here's how I'll handle it. I am going toss this coin up in the air."

All of the ninjas present raised an eyebrow at the boy's proposition and asked the question 'how will that solve anything?' in their heads. Naruto though, only paused for dramatic effect and allowed a wry smile to appear under his mask.

"And when it hits the ground, you'll all be dead or unconscious; depends on my mood really."

With that said, he tossed the coin as high into the air as he could, and vanished. For a fraction of a second, all the ninjas in the area tensed; eagerly anticipating where the attack will come from. After a second or so, they all relaxed, thinking that the masked man just ran away; it was the biggest mistake of their lives. Naruto began reappearing and disappearing everywhere, taking out a couple of ninjas as he did so. After a few seconds of the carnage, all the genins and chunins started panicking and fleeing, but to no avail. Even the younger jounins were shaking in their sandals at the ridiculous speed of their adversary; they tried desperately to keep their eyes on the masked man, to catch up with his movements, but every time they tried all they managed to catch was but a glimpse of something that seemed awfully familiar. The older jounins on the other hand, remained perfectly still; not because they were anticipating Naruto's movements, but because they were too afraid to move. There was something about the assault on their fortress that caused a resurgence of bitter nostalgia within them. When they were permanently stationed to the monastery, they didn't think they'd see anything as horrible as the Third Great Shinobi war ever again. They thought they could finally rid themselves of the terrifying memories that haunted them, and yet, here they were; watching their comrades get picked off one by one for the second time. Ten seconds; that's all it took for all 499 ninjas of Iwa and Taki to fall. The last remaining jounin tried desperately to take in all that had just happened around him; bodies were strewn everywhere, leaving the monastery looking like the aftermath of the Battle of Kannabi Bridge. He was about to drop to his knees and weep, when he felt a sudden breeze coming from his right. He turned to face it, and that was when he saw it; the last thing he ever saw before his vision turned to complete darkness.

Chink.

The sound of the coin hitting the earth echoed loudly throughout the still, silent night. Naruto stood there for a moment, taking in all that he had done; bodies were scattered as far as the eye could see, and the once bustling monastery now remained as silent as the rest of the forest. Inside his head, he could hear a loud maniacal laughter.

"**Shit Kit, you should do this more fucking often! Look! That guy's head is stuck in the wall! And over there! Look at that guy clutching his ass while unconscious; that Thousand Years of Pain move is awesome!"**

Natuo smiled at his partner's amusement. When the laughter died down a bit, he addressed the Kyuubi.

"_Glad you're having fun Kura-kun. Now, where do you think they'd hide the goodies?"_

"**Goodies? Well, you can't just go looking for them yet. I'm still sensing the slightest bit of malevolence, 5 o'clock Kit. Based on what I can tell though, it doesn't look like he wants to fight you." **

Naruto didn't even bother to look at the direction; if he or she wasn't willing to fight, then there would have been no point in knocking him or her out. No matter how far past he is from the edge, he still wouldn't hurt anyone that refused to fight; there was just no honor in it, nothing to gain.

"_Good. We don't need anyone playing hero today. Besides, at least we have an eyewitness. Now, to find those goodies…"_

The blonde boy spent a good 10 minutes looking for the stolen items; he literally looked under every rock, thinking that since he was dealing with Iwa ninjas, it'd be logical to do so. When he made no progress in finding it, he let his temper get the better of him and punched the nearest thing; the statue of their esteemed Tsuchikage. What happened next though shocked Naruto completely. The statue, although it had the appearance of being solid, was actually hollow; inside it was one large scroll that Naruto immediately recognized as a storage scroll/ without wasting another second, he snatched it out of its holding place and took one last good look at the carnage he had just caused.

* * *

Itachi just sat there, watching in amazement as his prodigy just took out an army of Iwa and Taki ninjas in just 10 seconds. When he saw that Naruto had found the stolen items, he smiled and stood; clearly expecting the boy to arrive at any second. Much to his surprise, Naruto took one last look at what he had done, and sat there, as if he was waiting for something. He raised a curious eyebrow at the boy's antics.

"_Naruto… What are you planning…?"_

"**Hey… Kit…?"**

"_Yes Kura-kun?"_

"… **The fuck do you think you're doing?"**

"_Hmmm? Oh, nothing much. I'm just expecting a few guests, that's all."_

A devious smile appeared on the boy's face while he inwardly praised himself for concocting such a mischievous smile. When Kyuubi caught on to what the boy was planning, he smiled devilishly as well, and opened his mouth to speak.

"**Heh. You really thought this through didn't you? I bet that Uchiha up there doesn't even know what you're planning to do."**

"_I was very careful in keeping it a secret._ _Anyway, I'll need your help to handle this Kura-kun."_

"**Sure thing Kit, but remember, there are other people looking for you, so I can only let you use up to three tails. Any more than that, and we'll be detected for sure."**

Naruto nodded in agreement at his partner's words. He would have continued the conversation, but it seemed his 'guests' had arrived. Naruto heard the soft thud of footsteps and the clinking of heavy armor behind him; he knew who it was, but he wasn't going look just yet. After a few seconds, another soft thud could be heard; it was much lighter than the first and something about it just seemed feminine to Naruto. At this point, the blonde Jinchuuriki stood up and turned to face his visitors. The moment they caught sight of his mask, they immediately tensed up and got into their fighting stances. Naruto tilted his head in confusion; something that only served to piss off the taller, armor-clad man even more.

"Oi! Who the hell are you and what makes you think you can do this in our territory?!"

Naruto opened his mouth to answer, but he was cut off by the petite mint green haired girl.

"What the hell are you doing with that scroll?! That belongs to Iwa and Taki!"

Naruto blinked at her and dumbly replied.

"Uhhh… no it doesn't."

"Yes, it does!"

"No, it doesn't. But since you're here, I was hoping I could talk to the both of you.

The tall armored man narrowed his eyes at the intruder; it was clear that he had no village. That being said, it would only be logical to assume that he was a rogue ninja. His eyes widened when his mind connected the dots and formulated an idea about who the masked man was, or at least, who the masked man represented. A rogue ninja who wants to talk to the both of them; to two Jinchuuriki? It was more than clear who this guy was.

"Are you from Akatsuki…?"

The mint haired girl gasped at what her temporary ally had just said; she spent such a long time waiting for the mysterious organization to contact her after she had offered herself to them. They said that they would call upon her when it was time for her to 'leave this world behind', but so far she received nothing. And now, here they were; the idea of being free from the nightmare she was forced to acknowledge as her life managed to bring a small smile to her face. Naruto saw the change in her expression, and frowned beneath his mask.

"… _I wonder what she went through… I wonder what it is that makes her so happy to face Death…"_

The blonde boy steeled himself; he knew that what he was about to say was going to dash the hopes of the two before him, but it was still something that needed to be said.

"…No. But that's exactly what I wanted to talk to you two about. I know what you told them. I know you offered yourself to them. What I don't think you know though, is what would happen once they finally _do_ get their hands on you."

There was a silence that lingered after the blonde had said those words. He was about to continue, until he was cut off by the tall man.

"… I know."

Naruto's eyes widened at the sudden revelation. He turned to look at the mint haired-girl who was now frowning.

"… Me too."

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. All this time he thought he was the only one who had it tough, but now, knowing that there were other people who were treated just like him; hurt to the point of making them want nothing more than to die since dying wouldn't be as painful as living, he could feel his blood boil. Against his better judgment, he let out his frustration on the two in front of him.

"Why!? What the hell is wrong with the both of you?! Why would you go with them then? Do you think that'll solve any of your problems?!"

It felt wrong to preach; so terribly wrong. It wasn't like he never felt the way they did; like there wasn't a point in his life where he wanted to just erase his entire existence. In fact, he even did just that. He faked his own death to get away from it all. So why was it that he felt so much pain and anger at watching as two others wish for the same thing he did way back when; an escape. Perhaps it was because he didn't understand why Jinchuuriki should be treated like that in the first place. Or perhaps… perhaps it was because he knew exactly what they were going through; it was something that he once felt, and something that he would never wish upon others. He patiently awaited an answer from either of the two. When the tall man stepped forward, he looked him in the eye and listened intently.

"… Why do you care…?"

Suddenly, the mint green haired girl stepped forward as well, with tears welling in the corner of her eyes.

"You don't get it! You just don't… Being called a monster... being treated like trash… always feeling like you don't belong anywhere… Going through all that, and having to just shrug it all off… I…"

She managed to fight back the tears that threatened to flow down her cheeks as she glared intensely at the masked man, and spoke.

"I don't see how that's any different from being dead."

The tall man got into a fighting stance.

"Enough talk. Give back the scroll, or fight."

Naruto looked down to the ground; he was afraid it would come to this. He didn't want to fight them; not because he was afraid of their power, but because they were the people he wanted to protect, not hurt. After a few seconds, he slid into his fighting stance.

"…Very well. My name is Han."

Naruto's eyes widened a bit at the introduction; he would have asked why he told him his name, but he was cut off yet again by the female Jinchuuriki.

"My name is Fū."

Naruto tilted his head in confusion. When Han noticed it, he answered the unspoken question.

"In the country of Iwa and Taki, it's common courtesy to introduce yourself to an enemy; so that they may know the name of their killer. What is your name, stranger?"

Naruto couldn't help but chuckle at their antics; here they were, in the middle of a monastery that looked like a battlefield, fighting an unknown opponent, and they still respected their countries enough to follow the traditions. It was just too odd for the boy. When he was done chuckling though, he disappeared and immediately reappeared in front of Han. Before the armored man could react, Naruto sent him flying with a quick sidekick to the gut. Fū's eyes widened at the sudden display of skill.

"_Such speed…! This guy's strong. I'll have to get serious._"

Fū's hands joined together into the hand sign of the bird before she aptly announced the jutsu.

"**Doton: Doryūsō!"**

Naruto felt the earth beneath him shake a tad bit for a fraction of a second, and that's when he realized what was going to happen next. He flipped backwards just in the nick of time, avoiding the spike that sprang out of the ground he was standing on. When he landed though, he felt the same slight tremor, so he once again flipped backwards. Fū decided to take advantage of the time it would take for her target to descend to the ground. She slammed her hands together in the sign of the Tiger, and yelled.

"**Doton: Doryū Taiga!"**

Suddenly, the earth Naruto landed on turned into a deep puddle of mud, causing him to lose balance. Thinking it was the chance to take him out; she breezed through hand signs and called out the jutsu.

"**Doton: Gansetsukon!"**

She slammed her hands on the ground beneath her and pulled out a spear of stone. She then drew it back, and threw it at the off-balanced Naruto with all her might. Naruto, upon seeing the pointy thing coming directly at him, created a shadow clone to his immediate right. Said clone then proceeded to pull Naruto out of the mud and out of the stone spear's way. When Naruto was free, he once again disappeared only to reappear right in front of Fū. The kunoichi's eyes widened; she thought she was done for. She braced herself for whatever impact she was going to experience, and when nothing came, she opened her eyes only to find the masked man's face a few inches from hers. Naruto pulled away suddenly, and bopped her on the forehead.

"You're pretty."

Fū felt her face heat up uncontrollably; before her opponent could notice, she threw a right hook aimed at the blonde's jaw, only to swing and miss when Naruto disappeared yet again. She immediately heard the sound of giggling from behind her, and when she turned to look, she saw the masked man sitting on the ground. She growled in annoyance at how slippery he was.

"Why the hell won't you fight me properly!?"

"I see you're pretty peeved. What's the matter? Don't you like all the disappearing and reappearing? I call it my Peek-a-boo no jutsu."

Naruto would have said more, but he was cut short by a fist to his face that sent him flying into the wall of a nearby shrine. When he managed to dig himself out of the rubble, he noticed that armor-clad opponent was gone and that he was now surrounded by what seemed like steam. In an effort to try and locate him, Naruto shut his eyes and listened. There was nothing but silence, that is, until he heard the faint whistling noise that came from his right. He immediately turned to block the incoming attack, much to Han's surprise. Although Naruto managed to shield himself from the incoming kick, the force behind it was still powerful enough to send the boy flying out of the shrine and into what was left of the Oonoki statue. Despite the pain in his arms and back, Naruto got up, and stared down his two opponents, who were now standing in plain sight. His eyes narrowed as he strained himself to think of a way to defeat them without killing them.

"_Alright, think… That Fū girl relies on her Earth based ninjutsu, and her Taijutsu is average at best. She can use mud, so it wouldn't be a stretch to assume that she can use Water based ninjutsu as well. She doesn't seem to be a Genjutsu specialist, so I can safely assume that she won't be using those, since she doesn't know whether I'm a master at it or not. Although, if I were, this would make things so much easier… easy… easy to make… Ramen… wait, I'm getting off track. Okay, think! That Han guy on the other hand is a total powerhouse! It seems he relies on that thing-a-ma-bob on his back to produce steam, which he then fuses with his chakra to bolster his attacks. And I have to admit, they hurt like hell. So far, he hasn't used anything other than Taijutsu, so I'm guessing I can rule out Genjutsu as well; I'll have to be cautious though. I don't know if he knows any Ninjutsu or not. So what do I do to beat them…? Itachi said everything is only as strong as its weakest point, so what's their weakest point…?_

Naruto smiled as he discovered the answer to his question.

"… _Teamwork. I'd bet that up until now, they've never had to work with one another. It would make sense; they're from different villages, and up until now, they've only been fighting me one on one. If I can engage them both at the same time; force the both of them to fight back, then maybe I can use their own attacks against them."_

As soon as Naruto thought of his strategy, he leapt forward and charged at the two to put it in action. He landed in between the two and as soon as he did so, Han released a ridiculous amount of steam in an attempt to disorient his attacker. The only thing he managed to accomplish though was disorient his ally, since Naruto cold still clearly locate them by detecting their malicious intent. When Han had located Naruto, he once again released steam from the furnace on his back and used the force of its release to propel himself forward. When the masked man was in range, he thrust his leg forward in an attempt to kick his opponent. Just as he was about to connect with the attack, he felt something brush against his shin and push against it, as if to redirect the attack by a couple inches, but paid no mind to it since the entire contact lasted for only a second. When he felt the sole of his foot come into contact with flesh, he smiled inwardly and eagerly awaited the yelp of pain that he was sure would follow. As expected, there was a yelp of pain, but much to his surprise, it was a rather feminine yelp. Fū was sent flying a few meters back; it was by far the most painful kick she had ever had the displeasure to feel and she was positive that it had cracked a few ribs. The worst part was, when she managed to get up, she still couldn't see a thing. That's when it came to her though; she may not have been able to see a thing, but she could hear and smell it. Being a Jinchuuriki of the seven tailed Bijuu had its benefits; one of them was her sharpened hearing and smelling. If she focused hard enough, she could catch the faintest of sounds; a raindrop hitting the ground, a small insect creeping through grass, and even a voice of a person a few hundred meters away. It was something that she loved and hated; hated, because it made it all the more harder to ignore the whispers of her fellow Villagers. She sometimes wished that she could just turn it off; that she could just cover ears and ignore all their harsh words, but not even that was enough to block out the pain. With regard to her sense of smell, it was also something she took pride in. She could catch the faintest of scents with it, just as long as it was something she'd smelled before. According to Shibuki, the leader of Taki, her sense of smell rivaled that of an Inuzuka, whatever that was. She then closed her eyes and focused on her surroundings; she could hear the subtle clinking of armor to her 1 o'clock, at a distance of around 14 meters away. For a while, she couldn't hear anything other than that, but then, she heard the slight pitter-patter of cautious feet behind her. She soon grew troubled as the pitter-patter that she had heard behind her soon doubled, and then tripled, and then quadrupled. Soon, it was everywhere; she couldn't get a good read on its exact location anymore. Panicking, she turned to her sense of smell for answers. When the masked man bopped her head, she caught a whiff of his scent; it was a bit sweet, yet at the same time, for whatever reason, it also smelled slightly acidic, like… what was the word for it… oranges…? Yes, oranges. Her eyes immediately shot open when she finally detected the boy; her hand was a blur as she breezed through her hand signs.

"**Doton: Doryūsō!"**

Han felt strange. He was trying to sense the boy, but so far, he was out of luck; precisely because for some reason, the boy was _everywhere._ Suddenly though, he felt the earth beneath him tremble. Before he could react, a spike sprang out of the ground behind him and slammed against the furnace on his back. Luckily for him, the furnace took most of the damage and managed to blunt the earthen spike, causing him to feel nothing more than an intense pain as the blunt earthen spear dug into his back and cracked a spinal column. Han was suddenly sent flying out of the steam and into yet another Oonoki statue. He tried to pick himself up off the ground, but was surprised to find that he couldn't even move. The best he could do was to sit up and lean on the base of the now destroyed statue that he landed on. He was out for the count, and he knew it too. After a few seconds, the steam cleared and Fū's eyes widened in horror; impaled on her spike, was the mangled furnace that was once on her ally's back. What really struck her though, was the coat that was draped over it.

"Tsk. You ruined my coat."

She turned to the direction of the voice, only to catch sight of the masked man, wearing nothing but a fishnet shirt that showed off his toned body. Fū shook off the blush that threatened to make its way onto her face, and glared daggers at the man. Much to her surprise, her glare was met with a sudden change in demeanor from the masked man. His stance seemed more aloof; no, aloof wasn't the word for it. He seemed… burdened…? Yes, that was it; burdened. He stood like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. His mysteriousness vexed Fū to no end; he had been piquing her curiosity all throughout the fight. Suddenly, he spoke.

"How many people do you hate…?"

The question caught her off guard. Before she could answer, the masked man turned to Han, who was clutching his sides a few meters away.

"How many people do _you_ hate…?"

Silence; neither of them could think of an answer accurate enough.

"… You've lost count huh…? Me too… That's because we're kind of the same."

Suddenly, Fū felt something inside her snap. Her entire frame began to tremble with rage.

"How dare you? You know nothing. You don't know anything! We're not the same! I'll… **I'll kill you!**"

Chakra began to explode out of Fū's body. Han's eyes widened; he knew what was happening and he also knew how much destruction it would cause. He tried desperately to get up, but to no avail. He weighed his options in his head; he could either watch helplessly as the seven tailed beast was set free, or he could ask help from his Bijuu…

"… _I think the seven tailed beast could use some fresh air anyway."_

Fū's entire body was quivering. Suddenly, a pair of insect wings sprouted out of her back, and she dashed towards the masked man. She threw a punch aimed at his jaw with amazing speed, only to be further angered when the masked man simply ducked under her punch and used one hand to push her away. Her own momentum was redirected by the push, and it sent her rolling a good distance away. When she got up, she glared at the man again, and came at him. The two were locked in a Taijutsu battle that was oddly one-sided. Even with the enhanced speed and strength that the Nanabi's chakra bestowed upon her, for some reason, this man, whatever he is, was keeping up with her. He was ducking, weaving, and parrying all her attacks with the utmost ease, and he didn't even seem to be getting tired. After a while, her frustration got the better of her.

"**You don't know anything! How could you?! We're not the same! You don't know what pain is, but I'll be happy to show you!"**

Fū immediately jumped back and used her wings to hover. Suddenly, she yelled.

"**Hiden: Rinpungakure no Jutsu!"**

Fine powder suddenly shot out of her mouth, and exploded in a bright flash. Thinking that her last attack had blinded her opponent, Fū charged in at full speed. She drew her hand back, and threw a straight right at the masked man's head, putting every single bit of her strength behind it. The look on her face was priceless when she saw that the masked man had caught her attack with one hand. Her eyes widened when, all of a sudden, a visage of a malevolent looking orange fox appeared behind him. Her rage was telling her to press on with her attack, but the fear that lingered inside her was forcing her body to move backwards. She yanked her fist away from the masked man's hand and threw a left hook that was just as soon parried. Using the momentum of her previous attack, she pivoted her left foot and threw a spinning backfist at the man's head. Naruto saw the attack coming from a mile away, and grabbed it before it could do any damage. He then pushed her away with enough force to send her stumbling backwards and on her ass.

"… Believe it or not, I know how you feel. It's hard, isn't it…? To have so much pain; so much _hatred_, bottled up inside you… You feel like you're going to explode…"

Fū stood up and threw a roundhouse kick at Naruto, who ducked underneath it, sidestepped and pushed her away.

"You feel like you just want to let it all out… like there's something inside you, pushing you; pressuring you. But you know you can't… and it doesn't help one bit."

She stood once again and swung wildly at Naruto. The boy expertly ducked and weaved under the attacks, and when he saw an opening, he restrained her in an embrace. Fū's body softened for a slight while when Naruto whispered into her ear.

"… So instead, you keep it in, and it stays there. But it still hurts right…? It festers inside, eating away at you… and you feel bits and pieces of yourself chipping away. Suddenly, all the harsh words… all the glares… all the physical abuse… they stop hurting altogether. All because the pain _you_ put _yourself_ through hurts so much more to the point that anything less and you won't feel it. You become numb…"

Fū pushed him away with as much force as she could muster.

"But the problem is, sooner or later, the numbness spreads. You start to lose your grasp on what hurts and what doesn't, so you do the only thing you can… you try to see if you can feel again. Tell me, how many scars are under those sleeves? How many under those clothes?" He turned to Han. "How many under all that armor?"

Fū's eyes began to water and her knees began to shake while Han shifted his gaze to the ground.

"It hurts… and it's so easy to give in; to give up. It's so easy to get lost. It gets harder and harder to hold on to the things you believe in because every single day, your grip gets weaker and weaker. You try to reach out for someone to help you; someone to hold on to you, but things just… things just seem so far away. It hurts to not have anyone in your corner when it feels like the whole world is beating on you. After a while, the hate takes over… people distance themselves from you, so you're forced to do the same. All the loneliness… the hate… it gets addictive. It becomes the one thing that keeps you going, but at the same time, the very thing that's killing you. And sure, you can always hope that someday, things will get better. Someday, things will start looking up; that people will start respecting you, or start to reach out to you as well, or that someday the pain in your chest just _stops_ because it's becoming too much to handle… but what hurts the most is the fact that 'someday' is still too far away. 'Someday' isn't today, because today… today just hurts like hell…"

The tears that Fū had been holding back now flowed incessantly down her cheeks. Her knees gave out from under her, and she fell to the floor with a thud. Naruto took a few steps forward, only to be stopped when Fū looked up at him with a pained expression on her face.

"Who… Who are you?"

Naruto frowned underneath his mask. After a few seconds of silence, his hand went up to his mask, and he took it off, revealing to the two the sad smile that was on his face. The two Jinchuuriki gasped in surprise when they saw that it was only a young boy that had beaten them so badly. What shocked them more though, were the next few words that came out of Naruto's mouth.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Youko."

There was a few seconds of silence, before Naruto spoke once again.

"I know your pain… Trust me, I do. But if you give in to the emptiness… if you give in to the hopelessness, you're letting _them_ win. Someone who's precious to me once told me that even though it hurts, you have to keep living, to find happiness."

With that, the blonde boy turned his back on them and started walking away, fiddling with his necklace all the while.

"If you feel like you've got what it takes to live; to fight back, and find happiness, then meet me at the Valley of the End exactly six months from now. Oh and… if you tell anyone my name, I'll have to come back and kill you myself. I won't like it, but I'll do it."

The two watched until Naruto was lone gone from their sight. After a while, Fū got up and walked over to Han, offering a hand. Han raised an eyebrow at the girl.

"What's this?"

"Well, what he said… I think he's right. I want to be happy. Besides… he's like us. He knows what we've been through and he understands us. Something inside me is telling me to trust him. Jinchuuriki need to stick together anyway, right?"

Fū smiled warmly at Han, who, after a while, returned the smile and took her hand. She was about to speak, when she suddenly saw something move to her right; it was the lone survivor. He ran off into the forest, in the direction that Naruto had gone. She immediately put the armored man down.

"Han-sama, stay here! I have to go after that guy!"

As Fū was about to break into a sprint, a firm grip grabbed her wrist, and kept her in place.

"Han-sama, what are you doing?! If I don't follow him, he'll die as well! I couldn't save these people, but dammit I'll save him!"

This managed to elicit a laugh from the usually stoic and reserved man. He pulled her down so that she was sitting in front of him, patted her head, and spoke.

"You need to look closer. They're not dead. They're all just unconscious. He's been five steps ahead of us all this time. Didn't you notice how, when he was fighting the both of us, he never even threw a single punch? He was manipulating us, even before we got here. There's a reason why he didn't use stealth to steal those things; he _wanted_ to alert the guards, because he knew it would draw us out. As to why he didn't kill anyone, I can only guess it's because he wants to send a message to Iwa and Taki, if not to the entire Shinobi world. He just took out 500 ninjas; how do you think the Kages are going to react to that?"

The worried look on Fū's face dissipated; for some reason, it wasn't that hard to believe that her new whiskered acquaintance was capable of doing such things. She allowed a smile to pass her face before getting up. She once again helped Han up, and they walked away from the monastery.

* * *

Naruto was jumping from tree to tree when he suddenly felt something, or rather, someone following him.

"**Kit, it's the same guy from before. I don't feel any malicious intent this time though."**

Naruto slowed down a bit to catch a glimpse of his follower. It was clear that he wasn't a ninja; he was too slow to be one, and he didn't even have a forehead protector. What he did have, though, was a camera. Naruto smiled inwardly when he thought of an idea that had even Kyuubi laughing. The blonde boy quickly jumped off the branch he had just landed on, and into the man's line of sight. The man immediately pointed the camera at the airborne masked man. He was soon shocked when his target disappeared right after the flash went off. His sprinting came to a halt, and as he was trying to catch his breath, he glanced at his camera.

"_This… This monster… He's dangerous…"_

* * *

Naruto arrived at the cliff to find a smirking Itachi Uchiha sitting beside an open fire.

"Good job Naruto."

Naruto smiled at the compliment. He then proceeded to hand Itachi the scroll; a gesture that the Uchiha merely smiled at.

"Naruto, _you_ stole it. That means it's yours."

"Well it would help if I knew what it was."

Itachi raised an eyebrow at the boy.

"Can't you open it…?"

"I have, but all I saw was a bunch of squiggly lines and stuff."

"Naruto… don't you know anything about seals…?"

"… You mean the things that go 'Arp! Arp!'?"

Itachi's palm immediately slammed against his own face; he had known that the boy was dense, but to not know anything about the very thing his own clan specialized in? It was a whole new low for the boy. When Itachi managed to compose himself, he looked the boy in the eye and spoke.

"I guess this will be more useful than I thought."

Itachi immediately funneled chakra into the seal, causing a few other scrolls to pop out in a cloud of smoke. He picked up the largest of the scrolls, and handed it to the boy.

"Naruto, that's the long lost summoning contract for the fox. It's arguably the strongest of all the sealing contracts, but the problem with it is that it takes a lot of chakra to summon a fox. An average shinobi won't even have half of the required amount. Also, when choosing its summoner, the foxes tend to be rather picky. As far as I know, there's only been one person who they deemed worthy of the power that comes with their contract; the founder of the Uzumaki clan. Considering the fact that you have an insane amount of chakra, I thought it'd be best if I gave this to you."

Naruto grabbed the scroll greedily as soon as he heard 'a lot of chakra' and 'arguably the strongest'. For some reason, he had an attraction to techniques that required a lot of chakra; probably because he had crappy chakra control, and the larger the chakra required for the technique, the easier it was for him to execute it. Before he could toy with the scroll, Itachi handed him a bunch of other scrolls.

"What the- What are these?"

"_These_ are yours, Naruto. These scrolls contain everything you need to know about Uzushiogakure, and the clan that used to live in it."

Naruto's eyes narrowed upon hearing the name Uzushiogakure; it had a familiarity about it that the blonde boy just couldn't explain.

"… What clan…?"

"Your clan, Naruto; the Uzumaki clan. Everything you need to know about them is written in these scrolls; their history, their culture, and most importantly, their knowledge on sealing. Naruto, the Uzumaki were known all throughout the Elemental Nations as the foremost masters in Fūinjutsu. _That_ is the pride of your clan."

A look of shock and fear crossed Naruto's countenance. For so long, he had thought that he was an orphan; that he didn't really have any sort of family. He thought there was no one in the world like him; that he was totally alone. And now, when he was presented with the possibility of discovering his identity as an Uzumaki; of discovering his roots, he couldn't help but be afraid. What if he didn't like what he saw…? He'd never be able to erase it; to just pretend like he never found out about it. When Itachi saw the look that the boy had, his expression softened, and he patted the boy on the head and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Naruto. This is your clan; this is your _family_. If they're anything like you, then you have nothing to worry about."

Naruto smiled at his sensei. Before anything else could be said though, Itachi stood up and started to walk into the thick forest. Naruto raised an eyebrow at the sudden motion, but gathered all the scrolls, and soon followed. When he caught up to the man, he asked the question that always bothered him whenever they would leave a camp without putting out their fire and covering their tracks.

"Where are we going?"

"To make you stronger; I'm going to take you to someone I know. This person will be able to teach you how defend yourself properly against Genjutsu. Also, I want you to study up on those scrolls while we travel. The sooner you can acquire the services of the Kitsune, the sooner we can put this little plan of yours into action. And by the way… how did you do that…?"

"Do what, exactly?"

"Your Peek-a-boo no jutsu." Itachi grimaced at the horrible name, but said it anyway.

"Oh, that. It's nothing really… I was just using Kura-kun's chakra, and running _really_ fast. About two tails, if I remember correctly."

"Hmmm. Well, it's quite unique. You should remember to be wary in using it though; that kind of stuff may work on these guys, but it'd be best to not use the Kyuubi's chakra around any Akatsuki members at all."

"Okay. Anyway, who's this person that's going to teach me Genjutsu?"

"… You'll see. I think you know her already."

"You know… you don't have to be so damn cryptic all the time.

"I'm Itachi Uchihia; what am I if not cryptic and mysterious?"

Naruto shook his head and smiled his trademark foxy grin as Itachi put on the traditional Uchiha smirk.

* * *

"Shit…"

The smell was absolutely horrid. There were mangled bodies lying all over the pasture. Various organs were strewn all over the field; an eyeball here, a tongue there, a few chunks of brain matter there, and whatnot. The grass was covered in dried blood. The houses inside the village had burned to the ground, along with everything inside them.

It was hell.

After a while, Kiba couldn't take it anymore; his enhanced sense of smell amplified the ungodly stench of death and decay that loomed over the entire area. He started throwing up while Akamaru and Hinata were beside him, fussing and worrying for his well-being. Almost all of them were paralyzed at the ghastly sight they were witnessing.

"… So this is what's left of Nagarerunamida."

Gai had said the sentence in such a dejected voice. He remembered one of his missions to Nagarerunamida; he met a wonderful and youthful man and his beautiful amber haired wife. They had been so hospitable during a time when being hospitable to a foreign ninja could get you killed. He found it amazing. He remembered being inspired by what the man told him.

"_When a man has the chance to do a good deed, then I believe he has an obligation to do so. That is what youth should be used for."_

It was because of those words that Gai turned into the dedicated and youthful ninja he was today. Now, there was nothing left of the place he once referred to as his second home. Suddenly, he felt a hand land on his shoulder.

"I know how you feel, old friend. But now is not the time for it; we have to be strong. Neji's party reported that they found something down by the old lake, or at least, what's left of the lake. We have to go."

With that, Kiba, Akamaru, Hinata, Kakashi, Gai, and Shino took off to the trees. When they met up with Neji's search party, surprised looks crossed their faces. A good part of the lake was blood red. There were mangled bodies and body parts floating about on the surface, but what caught their eye, was the floating head of what would seem to be a one-eyed giant black wolf. The eyeball seemed to have been ripped out of its socket, and the jaw was hanging loosely, indicating that it had been broken. Most of the Konoha 11 cringed as they took in all of the carnage; never had they seen so much death all in one place. Not even Kakashi and Gai could believe it, and they had seen their fair share of shit, seeing as they took part in the Third Great Shinobi War. They were soon snapped out of their trance though when they heard an 'eep' from Sakura. They turned their attention to the girl, who was pointing at the far western side of the lake. Kakashi's eyes widened when he saw it, as did Sasuke's. It was a cemetery; of course, it would only be normal to presume that perhaps some passer-by decided to bury some of the bodies, but that wasn't what caught their attention. Draped over one of the graves, was an orange jacket; one that they were all too familiar with. Without another word, they rushed towards it, being careful not to ruin or trample any of the graves on their way there. There was a long moment of silence as they gathered around the grave that the jacket was draped over; according to the makeshift headstone, it belonged to a girl named Nanami. After a few more seconds, Kiba's eyes widened, and he decided to break the silence.

"… I have his scent."

* * *

He had been careful; he had been _very_ careful. He only managed to catch one shot of the masked man. If he was too reckless in developing it, he could ruin the picture and he _knew_ the Tsuchikage would have his ass for that. The old man was positively seething when all 200 of his ninja that were stationed in the monastery reported the theft of the scrolls. He didn't want to believe that his ninja were _that_ incompetent, but after reviewing all the testimonies from veteran jounins as well as from the younger jounins, he had ordered the only survivor to gather all he knew about the masked man, and compile it in one report. Unfortunately for him, when the masked man engaged the two Jinchuuriki, he was too far away to hear anything. If that wasn't bad enough, one of the ninjas thought it'd be a swell idea to cover the entire place in steam, making it nearly impossible to see anything. by the time the steam faded, the two Jinchuuriki were already on the ground, and the masked man was walking away, back into the forest. Without even thinking, he chased after the man, and that was when he managed to take a picture of him. Now, here he was, in a dark room, taking extreme precaution not to ruin the only picture of the culprit.

"_Steady now… easy…"_

When the image appeared on the photo paper, the man immediately smacked his face with his palm. It was a picture of the masked man, alright; a picture of him in midair, legs spread widely apart, while his two hands were flipping the cameraman off.

And so the picture went on to be used in the Bingo books.

As for the man's name, nobody really knew. There was no record of him committing any other crime in any other country. It was almost as if he had popped into existence, out of nowhere. The man thought about conducting an investigation in other villages, but soon realized that doing so would be too expensive. So instead, he relied on the testimonies of his victims. When asked what the last thing they saw was, all 500 ninjas that were present during that horrific night, said the exact same thing.

Subject is about 162.56 cm tall. Approach with caution; he is extremely dangerous and will not hesitate to slaughter his enemies. Subject is classified as an S-class criminal for attacking a monastery, easily overwhelming 500 or so ninjas, and stealing a national treasure. Do _not_ approach with numbers fewer than 50. Bounty is 100 million ryo. If engaged in one on one battle, _run_. Not much else is known about the subject, aside from the fact that he is known by his victims as…

The Orange Spark.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Okay. I have come to the conclusion that i might not make a lot of original jutsus. I was reflecting on what I've done with my life so far, and I realized; i suck at Japanese. So I'm mostly just going to take jutsus from the manga and anime.**

**Doton: Doryūsō - Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears**

******Doton: Doryū Taiga - Earth Release: Earth Flow River**

**Doton: Gansetsukon - Earth Release: Spears of Stone**

**Hiden: Rinpungakure no Jutsu - Secret Tradition: Scaled Sneak Jutsu OR Secret: Hiding in Scaled Powder Technique**

Okay. I hope you guys had a very happy holiday. I was going to wait a while to post this, but i suppose i could post it now, as a gift to everyone. Granted, a very crappy gift, but a gift nonetheless. I apologize if this chapter is a bit disappointing. I will try to do better.

Mrbiggs132 - Thank you. As a writer, i'm glad i managed to influence you to that extent. I'm not saying I'm glad that I amde you cry, It's just... uhhh... I'm happy my work manged to make you feel something.

Dragonskyt - It's cool, and I'm glad you asked actually. First off, there's the problem named Zetsu. I realize he's the sensory expert within the Akatsuki, but i think I've found a way around that. I just hope that I can explain it well in the next few chapters. With regard to his application to Akatsuki, of course he's not just going to waltz in. That's kinda what this chapter's for; he needs to make a name for himself within the Elemental Nation's criminal society. I suppose taking out 500 ninjas will be enough to get the attention and approval of Akatsuki. Besides, the members are allowed to take on apprentices if i recall correctly.

cookiesMontuck - Woah. Thank you my friend. YOU are brilliant. Yes, YOU. As much as I appreciate it, I don't believe I deserve such kind words from such a refined human being as yourself. But I thank you, nonetheless.

Maleivius - I'm glad you like it! Again, it really means a lot to me that you guys are enjoying this. I hope you'll keep reading because I have quite a few surprises in store, and I hope you'll like them.

Boi of bigs - Thank you for taking the time to tell me that you like it. I have to say, I was planning on making this story a short fic, but after seeing everyone's reactions, I decided to finish this fic the right way. I really appreciate all of you. Even the short reviews manage to make my day. Thank you.

Dark Serpent Cat - I suppose something was a bit off about him, but that's something I'll try to rectify as the story goes on. I have to say though, those are some pretty nice suggestions... I've actually been thinking about doing something like that but I was afraid that it might end up dragging on for too long. I mean, I don't want them to seem like fillers, but a part of me wants to take up the challenge of incorporating all their stories into the grand scheme of things... Hmmm. You'll have to keep reading to see what I'm planning to do. Mwahahaha. By the way... that last line, 'Because sometimes, bad guys make the best good guys."... I meant it. You'll see what i mean.

Marutectz552 - I was actually unsure about how I ended the last chapter. I'm glad you liked it though. I'm sure that's what most people would do... but I'm not like most people... I'm Batman. I have a lot of plans for Naruto's development, I mean, he IS the protagonist. When I started this fic, I wanted to portray a Naruto that's more human; not just all smiles and whatnot. There will certainly be a dark side to him; a part of him that died that night when he lost everything that meant something to him, but even though that side exist, there will still be a part of him that feels like it needs to hang on to what's left of his humanity. Something that has faith not in something as abstract as humanity, but in the things he could do for other people. There will always be a part of him that feels compelled to save others who are heading down the same path he is, since he's barely able to save himself. Of course... there will still be times when he just loses it... By the way, I AM aiming to push human chess to the limit in this fic. I hope you like what I've got planned though. I've watched a few of Itachi's fights and that's actually where i got the idea of highlighting the Uchiha genius in him. Finally, on the whole Kurama and 'H' thing... I have a few tricks up my sleeves for those two... Thank you kindly once again for your words.

Okay. That was long. I'd just like to thank everyone who reviewed for sharing their criticisms and opinions in a considerate fashion. And if YOU; yes, YOU, want to be specially mentioned in this long ass section of the story, then review review review! Do so now and you'll receive a free... thank you.


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